Trending Scientific Theories — the 7 days to 24 October 2026
The 100 most-viewed scientific theories on Wikipedia, the 7 days to 24 October 2026. Ranked by real-world attention. Top: Big Bang. Data as of 24 October 2026.
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- the 7 days to 24 October 2026 · Data as of 24 October 2026
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- 100 scientific theories — drawn from 10,650,814 articles Wikipedia recorded views for in this window
This counts a Wikipedia language edition, not a country's residents. Nothing here is capped or sampled: it is every view Wikipedia published for these articles in the window. Rows carrying a 📰 badge add news coverage from GDELT; entity names and types come from Wikidata. Looking for what one country read? That is what the world reads — a different, capped measurement.
Where this data comes from ›100
Ranked
307,612
Total Views (the 7 days to 24 October 2026)
1
Big Bang
hypothetical begin of the Universe through expansion out of an infinitely small and infinitely dense state
25,105
views
views
2
anarchism
a philosophy, movement, and political ideology that holds that any government, like the state, is undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful
25,032
views
views
3
flat Earth
archaic conception of the Earth's shape
21,899
views
views
4
Fermi paradox
apparent contradiction between the lack of evidence and high probability estimates for the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations
15,280
views
views
5
theory of relativity
two interrelated physics theories by Albert Einstein
12,890
views
views
6
race
nonscientific human classification system primarily based on physical appearance
10,962
views
views
7
general relativity
standard and classical physics theory of gravity and space
10,416
views
views
8
uncertainty principle
fundamental principle in quantum physics
9,337
views
views
9
accelerationism
political philosophy that the prevailing system of capitalism should be expanded in order to generate radical social change
8,815
views
views
10
Coriolis force
apparent or fictitious force on objects moving within a reference frame that rotates with respect to an inertial frame
7,790
views
views
11
special relativity
physical theory of measurement in an inertial frame of reference proposed in 1905 by Albert Einstein
7,022
views
views
12
Dyson sphere
hypothetical megastructure, originally described by Freeman Dyson
6,777
views
views
13
heliocentrism
astronomical model in which the Earth and planets revolve around a relatively stationary Sun at the center of the Solar System
6,146
views
views
14
infrared radiation
electromagnetic radiation with longer wavelengths than those of visible light
5,868
views
views
15
meritocracy
political system in which capital is assigned on the basis of competence
5,619
views
views
16
Bose–Einstein condensate
state of matter of a dilute gas of bosons cooled to temperatures very near absolute zero
4,782
views
views
17
boson
quantum system invariant by exchange of two identical instances
4,300
views
views
18
continental drift
movement of Earth's continents relative to each other
4,176
views
views
19
Einstein field equations
field equations in general relativity
3,836
views
views
20
miasma theory
obsolete medical theory about the transmission of disease through bad air
3,694
views
views
21
trickle-down economics
economic theory
3,168
views
views
22
cell theory
scientific theory that living organisms are made up of cells, that they are the basic structural/organizational unit of all organisms, and that all cells come from pre-existing cells
3,121
views
views
23
Darwinism
theory of biological evolution driven by natural selection
3,025
views
views
24
germ theory of disease
prevailing theory about the cause of infectious diseases
2,779
views
views
25
Pauli effect
supposed tendency of technical equipment to fail in the presence of certain people
2,712
views
views
26
Lamarckism
hypothesis that an organism can pass on characteristics that it has acquired through use or disuse during its lifetime to its offspring
2,665
views
views
27
technofeudalism
political theory
2,625
views
views
28
big lie
gross distortion or misrepresentation of the truth
2,579
views
views
29
Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era
a political theory attributed to Xi Jinping, the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party
2,574
views
views
30
Third International Theory
theory of governance proposed by Muammar Gaddafi
2,555
views
views
31
spontaneous generation
disproven theory of life arising from nonliving matter
2,548
views
views
32
insanity
abnormal mental or behavioral patterns
2,537
views
views
33
spherical Earth
assertion that the Earth is (at least approximately) spherical
2,521
views
views
34
axial tilt
angle between the rotational axis and orbital axis of a body
2,451
views
views
35
Realism
international relations theory
2,290
views
views
36
vitalism
discredited scientific hypothesis
2,283
views
views
37
History of atomic theory
history of scientific theory that views matter as made up of atoms of chemical elements
2,148
views
views
38
high-functioning autism
outdated term for types of autism without intellectual or verbal disability and cognitively "higher functioning" (with an IQ of ≥70); term that medical and autistic communities calling to stop using because it is simplistic and offensive
2,028
views
views
39
von Mises yield criterion
concept in continuum mechanics
1,818
views
views
40
phlogiston theory
superseded scientific theory about combustion
1,807
views
views
41
kinetic theory
mathematical model explaining macroscopic properties of gases in microscopic terms
1,793
views
views
42
Kurgan hypothesis
theory of Indo-European origin
1,678
views
views
43
Socialism in One Country
political theory by Joseph Stalin
1,658
views
views
44
principal–agent problem
conflict of interest when one agent makes decisions on another's behalf
1,650
views
views
45
iron law of oligarchy
Political theory claiming that all organizations will eventually become oligarchic
1,610
views
views
46
Fermi–Dirac statistics
behaviour of many identical fermions, particles with half-integer spin
1,586
views
views
47
bricolage
construction or creation of a work from a diverse range of things that happen to be available, or a work created by such a process.
1,575
views
views
48
Duverger's law
principle in political science
1,448
views
views
49
Bose-Einstein statistics
statistical description for the behaviour of bosons
1,438
views
views
50
modern evolutionary synthesis
early-20th-century scientific theory combining Darwinian evolution and Mendelian inheritance
1,390
views
views
51
elite theory
theory of the state
1,342
views
views
52
HIV/AIDS denialism
unsubstantiated denial of the scientific fact that HIV causes AIDS
1,305
views
views
53
Gallicanism
the belief that popular civil authority—often represented by the monarchs' authority or the state's authority—over the Catholic Church is comparable to that of the Pope's
1,229
views
views
54
neorealism
concept in international relations
1,199
views
views
55
voting paradox (Condorcet)
Marquis de Condorcet's observation regarding times when voters' collective preferences are cyclic, even when voters' individual preferences are not
1,159
views
views
56
perturbation theory
quantum mechanics
1,149
views
views
57
Fresnel zone
region of space involved in radio propagation between a transmitting and receiving antenna
1,148
views
views
58
Kelvin–Helmholtz instability
fluid instability that occurs when there is velocity shear in a single continuous fluid or a velocity difference across the interface between two fluids
1,119
views
views
59
foco
theory of revolution by way of guerrilla warfare
1,114
views
views
60
palingenetic ultranationalism
theory concerning generic fascism
1,100
views
views
61
free energy principle
hypothesis in neuroscience proposed by Karl Friston
1,070
views
views
62
probability axioms
axioms that are relevant to the probability theory
1,058
views
views
63
domino theory
theory concerning the influence of Communism
1,020
views
views
64
Penrose process
theorical process wherein energy can be extracted from a rotating black hole
975
views
views
65
Brønsted–Lowry acid–base theory
chemical theory defining acids and bases by transfer of protons (hydrons)
949
views
views
66
contractualism
moral theory
920
views
views
67
Dirac sea
ground state of a fermionic field; thought of as a "sea" of negative-energy states that have been all filled in, thus rendering the vaccum stable
901
views
views
68
Madman theory
feature of Richard Nixon's foreign policy
901
views
views
69
Three Worlds Theory
Maoist interpretation and formulation of international relations
882
views
views
70
Turing pattern
how patterns in nature, such as stripes and spots, can arise naturally and autonomously from a homogeneous, uniform state
866
views
views
71
capability approach
economic theory
859
views
views
72
two-nation theory
political ideology that, in the Indian subcontinent, Hindus and Muslims comprise separate nations
841
views
views
73
Penrose diagram
two-dimensional diagram that captures the causal relations between different points in spacetime
841
views
views
74
post-Marxism
trend in political philosophy and social theory
816
views
views
75
Stokes parameters
808
views
views
76
Bell state
quantum state of two qubits that exhibits maximal quantum entanglement
796
views
views
77
Jahn–Teller effect
mechanism of spontaneous symmetry breaking in molecular and solid-state systems
786
views
views
78
libertarian communalism
libertarian socialist theory
738
views
views
79
growing block universe
past and present exist while the future does not
725
views
views
80
tidal acceleration
cause of tidal locking
716
views
views
81
isospin
quantum number related to the weak interaction
714
views
views
82
withering away of the state
concept coined by Engels that, with the realization of socialism, the state will become obsolete and disappear as the society will govern itself without coercive enforcement of the law
708
views
views
83
Aristotelian physics
natural sciences as described by Aristotle
702
views
views
84
menstrual synchrony
purported menstrual cycle synchronization in women who live together
683
views
views
85
Fresnel diffraction
diffraction
661
views
views
86
Bethe formula
moving charge energy loss formula found by Hans Bethe
645
views
views
87
band theory
model of electronic structure in solids
641
views
views
88
nutation
type of motion in astronomy. A component of the rotating motion of a planet under the influence of gravitational pull by moons, other planets or the central star
641
views
views
89
Bell test experiments
experiments in quantum mechanics
639
views
views
90
optical aberration
phenomenon in astronomy
625
views
views
91
democratic peace theory
theory which posits that democracies are hesitant to engage in armed conflict with other identified democracies
616
views
views
92
rotating black hole
black hole with angular momentum
611
views
views
93
Stokes flow
fluid flow where advective inertial forces are small compared with viscous forces
610
views
views
94
devolution
process of evolving from a complex organism to a simpler organism
606
views
views
95
preformationism
formerly-popular theory that organisms develop from miniature versions of themselves
598
views
views
96
caloric theory
obsolete scientific theory of heat flow
577
views
views
97
functionalism
social science
566
views
views
98
Rényi entropy
family of diversity measures generalising Shannon entropy
555
views
views
99
refrigerator mother theory
discredited historical theory that autistic spectrum disorders are caused by a lack of parental emotional warmth
539
views
views
100
emperor organ theory
constitutional theory that was the prevailing interpretation of the Constitution of the Empire of Japan until it became the subject of political attacks in 1935
537
views
views