Self-study
Newtonian physics dominated science for over two centuries. ██ █████ ████████████ ██████████ ████████████ ████████ ███ ██ ███ ████ ██████ █████████████ ███ ████████ ████████ ██ ███ ███████ ██ ████████ █████████████ ██████████ ████████ ████ ██ ████ ███ ███████████ ██████ ██ █████████ ███████ ███ ██ ███████ ███ █████████ ████ ██ ███ █████ ██████ ██████ ████ ████ █████ ██ █ ███████ ████ ███ ██ ███ ███████ ████ ████████
Summary
Newtonian physics dominated science for over two centuries and became one of the most highly accepted theories in the history of science. Nevertheless, Einstein’s theories later came to show the limits of Newtonian physics and surpassed the Newtonian view in the early 1900s. Einstein’s theories have so far enjoyed wide success.
Notable Valid Inferences
A scientific theory’s widespread acceptance is no guarantee that the theory will be accepted forever.
7.
Which one of the following █████████ ███████ ████ ███ ██████████ ██████
a
The history of ███████ ██ █████████████ ██ █ ███████ ██ ███ ██████████ ██████ ████████████ █████████ ██ ████████
Could be false. The stimulus gives us only two examples of scientific theories, one of which subsequently surpassed the other. This doesn’t necessarily establish a pattern, it could be that Newtonian physics and Einstein’s theories are the only examples of this occurring.
b
Long-standing success or ██████████████ ██ █ ██████ ██ ███████ ██ ██ █████████ ████ ███ ██████ ████ ████████ ██ ██ ████████ █████████████
Must be true. We know that Einstein’s theories eventually surpassed Newtonian physics despite Newtonian physics dominating science for over two centuries. So Newtonian physics did not remain dominant indefinitely (forever).
c
Every theory of ████████ ██ ██████ ███ ███████████ ██ ██████████ █████████ ██ ███ ████ ██ ████ ███████████
Could be false. The stimulus gives us only two examples of scientific theories, one of which subsequently surpassed the other. This doesn’t necessarily mean that every theory of physics is eventually surpassed. It could be that Einstein surpassing Newtonian physics is a unique occurrence, and that Einstein's theory will never be surpassed.
d
Once a theory ██ ███████ ██ █████████ ██ ████ ██████ ████████ ███ ██████████
Could be false. We only know that Newtonian physics was dominant for centuries. It could be the case that Newtonian physics is unique, and that no other theory of physics has been accepted for centuries.
e
If a long-accepted ██████ ██ ███████ ██ ██████████ ██ ████ ██ █████████ ██ █ ██████ ████ ██ ███████ ███████████
Could be false. We know that Einstein’s theories surpassed Newtonian physics, but we cannot assume Einstein’s theories are equally successful. Newtonian physics dominated for over two centuries, and Einstein’s theories have not existed for as long. There could also be other cases of physics theories that were once long-accepted but were surpassed by theories that were not equally successful.