Both great advances and gradual knowledge building in science and technology have profound effects on society. Students should appreciate the scientific thought and effort of the individuals who contributed to these advances. In other examples, the history of Aristotle's philosophy of matter, and of Dalton's and Bohr's models of atomic theory, emphasize the value of a scientific model in enabling researchers to explore an unseen entity by starting with certain assumptions posited by the model. Nature of Scientific Knowledge - Much of what is understood about the nature of science must be explicitly addressed. All scientific knowledge is tentative, although many ideas have stood the test of time and are reliable for our use.
Theories just become stronger as more supporting evidence is gathered.
They provide a context for further research and give us a basis for prediction. For example, atomic theory is an explanation for the behavior of matter based on the existence of tiny particles. Kinetic molecular theory explains, among other things, the expansion and contraction of gases. Laws are fundamentally different from theories. They are universal generalizations based on observations we have made of the natural world, such as the nature of gravity, the relationship of forces and motion, and the nature of planetary movement.