Trending Scientific Theories — the 12 months to October 2026
The 100 most-viewed scientific theories on Wikipedia, the 12 months to October 2026. Ranked by real-world attention. Top: Big Bang. Data as of 24 October 2026.
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- the 12 months to October 2026 · Data as of 24 October 2026
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- 100 scientific theories — drawn from 12,774,962 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
2,300,595
Total Views (the 12 months to October 2026)
1
Big Bang
hypothetical begin of the Universe through expansion out of an infinitely small and infinitely dense state
186,118
views
views
2
Fermi paradox
apparent contradiction between the lack of evidence and high probability estimates for the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations
137,032
views
views
3
anarchism
a philosophy, movement, and political ideology that holds that any government, like the state, is undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful
126,181
views
views
4
flat Earth
archaic conception of the Earth's shape
117,202
views
views
5
theory of relativity
two interrelated physics theories by Albert Einstein
97,786
views
views
6
race
nonscientific human classification system primarily based on physical appearance
90,157
views
views
7
general relativity
standard and classical physics theory of gravity and space
77,315
views
views
8
accelerationism
political philosophy that the prevailing system of capitalism should be expanded in order to generate radical social change
70,648
views
views
9
uncertainty principle
fundamental principle in quantum physics
70,427
views
views
10
Dyson sphere
hypothetical megastructure, originally described by Freeman Dyson
66,296
views
views
11
special relativity
physical theory of measurement in an inertial frame of reference proposed in 1905 by Albert Einstein
55,788
views
views
12
Coriolis force
apparent or fictitious force on objects moving within a reference frame that rotates with respect to an inertial frame
53,013
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
45,127
views
views
14
infrared radiation
electromagnetic radiation with longer wavelengths than those of visible light
43,361
views
views
15
meritocracy
political system in which capital is assigned on the basis of competence
40,210
views
views
16
Bose–Einstein condensate
state of matter of a dilute gas of bosons cooled to temperatures very near absolute zero
37,712
views
views
17
boson
quantum system invariant by exchange of two identical instances
33,608
views
views
18
miasma theory
obsolete medical theory about the transmission of disease through bad air
30,603
views
views
19
Einstein field equations
field equations in general relativity
30,586
views
views
20
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
29,346
views
views
21
germ theory of disease
prevailing theory about the cause of infectious diseases
27,859
views
views
22
continental drift
movement of Earth's continents relative to each other
27,153
views
views
23
Darwinism
theory of biological evolution driven by natural selection
25,873
views
views
24
Lamarckism
hypothesis that an organism can pass on characteristics that it has acquired through use or disuse during its lifetime to its offspring
25,854
views
views
25
trickle-down economics
economic theory
23,768
views
views
26
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
23,427
views
views
27
big lie
gross distortion or misrepresentation of the truth
22,609
views
views
28
spontaneous generation
disproven theory of life arising from nonliving matter
22,562
views
views
29
axial tilt
angle between the rotational axis and orbital axis of a body
21,306
views
views
30
Third International Theory
theory of governance proposed by Muammar Gaddafi
20,628
views
views
31
spherical Earth
assertion that the Earth is (at least approximately) spherical
20,537
views
views
32
insanity
abnormal mental or behavioral patterns
20,323
views
views
33
History of atomic theory
history of scientific theory that views matter as made up of atoms of chemical elements
18,423
views
views
34
Realism
international relations theory
17,813
views
views
35
vitalism
discredited scientific hypothesis
16,918
views
views
36
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
16,508
views
views
37
phlogiston theory
superseded scientific theory about combustion
15,536
views
views
38
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
14,959
views
views
39
Kurgan hypothesis
theory of Indo-European origin
13,997
views
views
40
HIV/AIDS denialism
unsubstantiated denial of the scientific fact that HIV causes AIDS
13,424
views
views
41
Fermi–Dirac statistics
behaviour of many identical fermions, particles with half-integer spin
12,976
views
views
42
Bose-Einstein statistics
statistical description for the behaviour of bosons
12,976
views
views
43
von Mises yield criterion
concept in continuum mechanics
12,973
views
views
44
kinetic theory
mathematical model explaining macroscopic properties of gases in microscopic terms
12,376
views
views
45
technofeudalism
political theory
12,347
views
views
46
principal–agent problem
conflict of interest when one agent makes decisions on another's behalf
12,113
views
views
47
Socialism in One Country
political theory by Joseph Stalin
11,685
views
views
48
modern evolutionary synthesis
early-20th-century scientific theory combining Darwinian evolution and Mendelian inheritance
11,575
views
views
49
free energy principle
hypothesis in neuroscience proposed by Karl Friston
11,288
views
views
50
Rényi entropy
family of diversity measures generalising Shannon entropy
10,974
views
views
51
elite theory
theory of the state
10,716
views
views
52
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.
10,659
views
views
53
iron law of oligarchy
Political theory claiming that all organizations will eventually become oligarchic
9,816
views
views
54
palingenetic ultranationalism
theory concerning generic fascism
9,617
views
views
55
perturbation theory
quantum mechanics
9,412
views
views
56
probability axioms
axioms that are relevant to the probability theory
9,160
views
views
57
two-nation theory
political ideology that, in the Indian subcontinent, Hindus and Muslims comprise separate nations
9,072
views
views
58
neorealism
concept in international relations
8,898
views
views
59
Madman theory
feature of Richard Nixon's foreign policy
8,739
views
views
60
domino theory
theory concerning the influence of Communism
8,367
views
views
61
foco
theory of revolution by way of guerrilla warfare
8,274
views
views
62
Duverger's law
principle in political science
8,161
views
views
63
Penrose process
theorical process wherein energy can be extracted from a rotating black hole
8,100
views
views
64
Penrose diagram
two-dimensional diagram that captures the causal relations between different points in spacetime
7,985
views
views
65
Three Worlds Theory
Maoist interpretation and formulation of international relations
7,963
views
views
66
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
7,894
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
7,585
views
views
68
voting paradox (Condorcet)
Marquis de Condorcet's observation regarding times when voters' collective preferences are cyclic, even when voters' individual preferences are not
7,531
views
views
69
growing block universe
past and present exist while the future does not
7,451
views
views
70
Brønsted–Lowry acid–base theory
chemical theory defining acids and bases by transfer of protons (hydrons)
7,330
views
views
71
Turing pattern
how patterns in nature, such as stripes and spots, can arise naturally and autonomously from a homogeneous, uniform state
7,316
views
views
72
menstrual synchrony
purported menstrual cycle synchronization in women who live together
7,053
views
views
73
capability approach
economic theory
6,887
views
views
74
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
6,297
views
views
75
Bell state
quantum state of two qubits that exhibits maximal quantum entanglement
6,188
views
views
76
Stokes parameters
6,143
views
views
77
Aristotle's biology
theory of biology, grounded in systematic observation and collection of data, mainly zoological, embodied in Aristotle's books on the science
6,064
views
views
78
Aristotelian physics
natural sciences as described by Aristotle
5,855
views
views
79
Fresnel zone
region of space involved in radio propagation between a transmitting and receiving antenna
5,824
views
views
80
democratic peace theory
theory which posits that democracies are hesitant to engage in armed conflict with other identified democracies
5,501
views
views
81
Jahn–Teller effect
mechanism of spontaneous symmetry breaking in molecular and solid-state systems
5,492
views
views
82
Bell test experiments
experiments in quantum mechanics
5,490
views
views
83
rotating black hole
black hole with angular momentum
5,483
views
views
84
killer ape theory
theory that war and interpersonal aggression was the driving force behind human evolution
5,348
views
views
85
Pauli effect
supposed tendency of technical equipment to fail in the presence of certain people
5,230
views
views
86
devolution
process of evolving from a complex organism to a simpler organism
5,175
views
views
87
post-Marxism
trend in political philosophy and social theory
5,071
views
views
88
contractualism
moral theory
4,928
views
views
89
von Neumann entropy
type of entropy in quantum statistical mechanics
4,707
views
views
90
isospin
quantum number related to the weak interaction
4,685
views
views
91
optical aberration
phenomenon in astronomy
4,536
views
views
92
Fresnel diffraction
diffraction
4,514
views
views
93
refrigerator mother theory
discredited historical theory that autistic spectrum disorders are caused by a lack of parental emotional warmth
4,498
views
views
94
heat death paradox
paradox relating to fate of universe
4,489
views
views
95
pluralism
view that politics and decision making are located mostly in the framework of government, but that many non-governmental groups use their resources to exert influence
4,457
views
views
96
Stokes flow
fluid flow where advective inertial forces are small compared with viscous forces
4,333
views
views
97
orthogenesis
obsolete biological hypothesis that organisms have an innate tendency to evolve towards some goal
4,292
views
views
98
caloric theory
obsolete scientific theory of heat flow
4,275
views
views
99
flood geology
attempt to interpret and reconcile geological features of the Earth in accordance with a literal belief in the global flood described in Genesis
4,236
views
views
100
preformationism
formerly-popular theory that organisms develop from miniature versions of themselves
4,222
views
views