[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

"{I said} It may shock you to learn that, if you have been out of school for several years, several of the scientific theories you were taught have since been falsified. If not outright falsified, then modified significantly. It happens all the time -- it's what we call progress."

(You said) "Oh, what theories are those?"

Contraction theory (to explain mountains) for one. Since replaced by the Theory of Plate Tectonics.

The Kelvin Helmholtz's Contraction Theory to expain the sun's energy for two -- since replaced by the theory of nuclear fusion.
(Well, O.K. -- maybe I'm not quite old enough for that one -- although some FReepers could be -- I just liked the fact that two different "contraction theories" have been falsified.)

[spunkets]

" Contraction theory (to explain mountains) for one. Since replaced by the Theory of Plate Tectonics.
The Kelvin Helmholtz's Contraction Theory to expain the sun's energy for two --

Neither one was ever any more than a hypothesis. There may have been some evidence where a stretch might be made to call it a weak theory. In both cases, the hypothesis didn't pan out. The same for Lamarkian evolution.