Trending Scientific Theories — all time
The 100 most-viewed scientific theories on Wikipedia, all time. Ranked by real-world attention. Top: Big Bang. Data as of 29 October 2026.
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- 100 scientific theories — drawn from 12,348,970 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
1,305,468
Total Views (all time)
Country
🌍 Global
1
Big Bang
hypothetical begin of the Universe through expansion out of an infinitely small and infinitely dense state
105,741
views
views
2
anarchism
a philosophy, movement, and political ideology that holds that any government, like the state, is undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful
89,212
views
views
3
flat Earth
archaic conception of the Earth's shape
73,135
views
views
4
Fermi paradox
apparent contradiction between the lack of evidence and high probability estimates for the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations
68,268
views
views
5
theory of relativity
two interrelated physics theories by Albert Einstein
53,277
views
views
6
race
nonscientific human classification system primarily based on physical appearance
48,000
views
views
7
general relativity
standard and classical physics theory of gravity and space
42,707
views
views
8
uncertainty principle
fundamental principle in quantum physics
40,649
views
views
9
accelerationism
political philosophy that the prevailing system of capitalism should be expanded in order to generate radical social change
38,820
views
views
10
Dyson sphere
hypothetical megastructure, originally described by Freeman Dyson
32,169
views
views
11
Coriolis force
apparent or fictitious force on objects moving within a reference frame that rotates with respect to an inertial frame
32,140
views
views
12
special relativity
physical theory of measurement in an inertial frame of reference proposed in 1905 by Albert Einstein
31,785
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
28,056
views
views
14
meritocracy
political system in which capital is assigned on the basis of competence
25,322
views
views
15
infrared radiation
electromagnetic radiation with longer wavelengths than those of visible light
23,221
views
views
16
Bose–Einstein condensate
state of matter of a dilute gas of bosons cooled to temperatures very near absolute zero
22,818
views
views
17
boson
quantum system invariant by exchange of two identical instances
19,137
views
views
18
miasma theory
obsolete medical theory about the transmission of disease through bad air
17,040
views
views
19
continental drift
movement of Earth's continents relative to each other
16,877
views
views
20
Einstein field equations
field equations in general relativity
15,860
views
views
21
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
14,317
views
views
22
Darwinism
theory of biological evolution driven by natural selection
13,678
views
views
23
trickle-down economics
economic theory
13,401
views
views
24
spontaneous generation
disproven theory of life arising from nonliving matter
13,046
views
views
25
germ theory of disease
prevailing theory about the cause of infectious diseases
12,767
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
12,142
views
views
27
race and intelligence
discussions and claims of differences in intelligence along racial lines
12,092
views
views
28
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
11,283
views
views
29
big lie
gross distortion or misrepresentation of the truth
11,123
views
views
30
insanity
abnormal mental or behavioral patterns
10,794
views
views
31
axial tilt
angle between the rotational axis and orbital axis of a body
10,419
views
views
32
spherical Earth
assertion that the Earth is (at least approximately) spherical
10,359
views
views
33
History of atomic theory
history of scientific theory that views matter as made up of atoms of chemical elements
10,087
views
views
34
Third International Theory
theory of governance proposed by Muammar Gaddafi
10,084
views
views
35
Realism
international relations theory
9,960
views
views
36
technofeudalism
political theory
9,730
views
views
37
vitalism
discredited scientific hypothesis
9,450
views
views
38
episcopal polity
form of church governance consisting of a hierarchy of bishops
8,531
views
views
39
Copernican heliocentrism
concept that the Earth rotates around the Sun
8,403
views
views
40
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
8,234
views
views
41
phlogiston theory
superseded scientific theory about combustion
7,657
views
views
42
principal–agent problem
conflict of interest when one agent makes decisions on another's behalf
7,415
views
views
43
Socialism in One Country
political theory by Joseph Stalin
7,229
views
views
44
Bose-Einstein statistics
statistical description for the behaviour of bosons
7,175
views
views
45
kinetic theory
mathematical model explaining macroscopic properties of gases in microscopic terms
7,113
views
views
46
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.
7,096
views
views
47
Kurgan hypothesis
theory of Indo-European origin
6,919
views
views
48
Fermi–Dirac statistics
behaviour of many identical fermions, particles with half-integer spin
6,888
views
views
49
von Mises yield criterion
concept in continuum mechanics
6,777
views
views
50
Pauli effect
supposed tendency of technical equipment to fail in the presence of certain people
6,219
views
views
51
constitutionalism
political and legal thought holding that government authority derives from and is limited by fundamental law, emphasizing the protection of rights
6,099
views
views
52
iron law of oligarchy
Political theory claiming that all organizations will eventually become oligarchic
5,965
views
views
53
modern evolutionary synthesis
early-20th-century scientific theory combining Darwinian evolution and Mendelian inheritance
5,756
views
views
54
Duverger's law
principle in political science
5,487
views
views
55
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
5,261
views
views
56
elite theory
theory of the state
5,209
views
views
57
foco
theory of revolution by way of guerrilla warfare
5,175
views
views
58
neorealism
concept in international relations
5,004
views
views
59
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
4,827
views
views
60
palingenetic ultranationalism
theory concerning generic fascism
4,710
views
views
61
free energy principle
hypothesis in neuroscience proposed by Karl Friston
4,625
views
views
62
probability axioms
axioms that are relevant to the probability theory
4,550
views
views
63
domino theory
theory concerning the influence of Communism
4,483
views
views
64
voting paradox (Condorcet)
Marquis de Condorcet's observation regarding times when voters' collective preferences are cyclic, even when voters' individual preferences are not
4,452
views
views
65
perturbation theory
quantum mechanics
4,313
views
views
66
Brønsted–Lowry acid–base theory
chemical theory defining acids and bases by transfer of protons (hydrons)
4,238
views
views
67
Penrose process
theorical process wherein energy can be extracted from a rotating black hole
4,219
views
views
68
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
4,198
views
views
69
two-nation theory
political ideology that, in the Indian subcontinent, Hindus and Muslims comprise separate nations
4,095
views
views
70
Rényi entropy
family of diversity measures generalising Shannon entropy
4,035
views
views
71
Minkowski diagram
graph of space and time in special relativity
3,903
views
views
72
Fresnel zone
region of space involved in radio propagation between a transmitting and receiving antenna
3,855
views
views
73
Three Worlds Theory
Maoist interpretation and formulation of international relations
3,848
views
views
74
Madman theory
feature of Richard Nixon's foreign policy
3,829
views
views
75
Penrose diagram
two-dimensional diagram that captures the causal relations between different points in spacetime
3,678
views
views
76
Turing pattern
how patterns in nature, such as stripes and spots, can arise naturally and autonomously from a homogeneous, uniform state
3,627
views
views
77
capability approach
economic theory
3,589
views
views
78
growing block universe
past and present exist while the future does not
3,532
views
views
79
sluggish schizophrenia
outdated concept by Soviet psychiatrist Snezhnevsky, describing a mental state similar to schizophrenia, but without psychosis, instead expressed in lightweight negative symptoms; used as an analogue of the StPD in Russia; used to repress dissidents
3,491
views
views
80
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
3,299
views
views
81
Jahn–Teller effect
mechanism of spontaneous symmetry breaking in molecular and solid-state systems
3,285
views
views
82
contractualism
moral theory
3,237
views
views
83
post-Marxism
trend in political philosophy and social theory
3,217
views
views
84
Bell state
quantum state of two qubits that exhibits maximal quantum entanglement
3,209
views
views
85
Stokes parameters
3,094
views
views
86
menstrual synchrony
purported menstrual cycle synchronization in women who live together
2,931
views
views
87
rotating black hole
black hole with angular momentum
2,898
views
views
88
isospin
quantum number related to the weak interaction
2,889
views
views
89
optical aberration
phenomenon in astronomy
2,887
views
views
90
democratic peace theory
theory which posits that democracies are hesitant to engage in armed conflict with other identified democracies
2,864
views
views
91
Aristotelian physics
natural sciences as described by Aristotle
2,845
views
views
92
Bell test experiments
experiments in quantum mechanics
2,845
views
views
93
libertarian communalism
libertarian socialist theory
2,783
views
views
94
band theory
model of electronic structure in solids
2,775
views
views
95
devolution
process of evolving from a complex organism to a simpler organism
2,767
views
views
96
costly signaling theory in evolutionary psychology
behavioral theory
2,720
views
views
97
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
2,688
views
views
98
Fresnel diffraction
diffraction
2,567
views
views
99
preformationism
formerly-popular theory that organisms develop from miniature versions of themselves
2,525
views
views
100
Bethe formula
moving charge energy loss formula found by Hans Bethe
2,468
views
views