Trending Scientific Theories in USA — September 2026
The 100 most-viewed scientific theories on Wikipedia, September 2026 (English-language edition). Ranked by real-world attention. Top: Big Bang. Data as of 28 October 2026.
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- September 2026 · Data as of 28 October 2026
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- 100 scientific theories — drawn from 6,992,709 articles Wikipedia recorded views for in this window
This counts a Wikipedia language edition, not a country's residents — Measured from the English-language Wikipedia edition — readers worldwide, not residents of USA. 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
1,012,633
Total Views (September 2026)
1
Big Bang
hypothetical begin of the Universe through expansion out of an infinitely small and infinitely dense state
74,131
views
views
2
Fermi paradox
apparent contradiction between the lack of evidence and high probability estimates for the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations
56,800
views
views
3
anarchism
a philosophy, movement, and political ideology that holds that any government, like the state, is undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful
50,797
views
views
4
flat Earth
archaic conception of the Earth's shape
50,331
views
views
5
theory of relativity
two interrelated physics theories by Albert Einstein
39,031
views
views
6
race
nonscientific human classification system primarily based on physical appearance
37,873
views
views
7
accelerationism
political philosophy that the prevailing system of capitalism should be expanded in order to generate radical social change
30,789
views
views
8
uncertainty principle
fundamental principle in quantum physics
30,560
views
views
9
general relativity
standard and classical physics theory of gravity and space
30,087
views
views
10
Dyson sphere
hypothetical megastructure, originally described by Freeman Dyson
26,727
views
views
11
special relativity
physical theory of measurement in an inertial frame of reference proposed in 1905 by Albert Einstein
21,477
views
views
12
Coriolis force
apparent or fictitious force on objects moving within a reference frame that rotates with respect to an inertial frame
21,303
views
views
13
infrared radiation
electromagnetic radiation with longer wavelengths than those of visible light
18,240
views
views
14
Bose–Einstein condensate
state of matter of a dilute gas of bosons cooled to temperatures very near absolute zero
16,768
views
views
15
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
15,520
views
views
16
germ theory of disease
prevailing theory about the cause of infectious diseases
15,267
views
views
17
meritocracy
political system in which capital is assigned on the basis of competence
15,206
views
views
18
boson
quantum system invariant by exchange of two identical instances
14,784
views
views
19
heliocentrism
astronomical model in which the Earth and planets revolve around a relatively stationary Sun at the center of the Solar System
14,562
views
views
20
race and intelligence
discussions and claims of differences in intelligence along racial lines
13,926
views
views
21
miasma theory
obsolete medical theory about the transmission of disease through bad air
13,097
views
views
22
Einstein field equations
field equations in general relativity
12,905
views
views
23
big lie
gross distortion or misrepresentation of the truth
11,831
views
views
24
Darwinism
theory of biological evolution driven by natural selection
10,900
views
views
25
Lamarckism
hypothesis that an organism can pass on characteristics that it has acquired through use or disuse during its lifetime to its offspring
10,801
views
views
26
axial tilt
angle between the rotational axis and orbital axis of a body
10,389
views
views
27
trickle-down economics
economic theory
10,370
views
views
28
Third International Theory
theory of governance proposed by Muammar Gaddafi
10,138
views
views
29
spontaneous generation
disproven theory of life arising from nonliving matter
9,971
views
views
30
continental drift
movement of Earth's continents relative to each other
9,653
views
views
31
episcopal polity
form of church governance consisting of a hierarchy of bishops
9,183
views
views
32
Copernican heliocentrism
concept that the Earth rotates around the Sun
8,926
views
views
33
technofeudalism
political theory
8,915
views
views
34
History of atomic theory
history of scientific theory that views matter as made up of atoms of chemical elements
8,899
views
views
35
Realism
international relations theory
8,754
views
views
36
spherical Earth
assertion that the Earth is (at least approximately) spherical
8,437
views
views
37
insanity
abnormal mental or behavioral patterns
8,377
views
views
38
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
7,872
views
views
39
phlogiston theory
superseded scientific theory about combustion
7,630
views
views
40
vitalism
discredited scientific hypothesis
6,871
views
views
41
Rényi entropy
family of diversity measures generalising Shannon entropy
6,757
views
views
42
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
6,709
views
views
43
Bose-Einstein statistics
statistical description for the behaviour of bosons
6,439
views
views
44
Fermi–Dirac statistics
behaviour of many identical fermions, particles with half-integer spin
6,050
views
views
45
von Mises yield criterion
concept in continuum mechanics
5,975
views
views
46
free energy principle
hypothesis in neuroscience proposed by Karl Friston
5,803
views
views
47
principal–agent problem
conflict of interest when one agent makes decisions on another's behalf
5,752
views
views
48
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
5,744
views
views
49
Kurgan hypothesis
theory of Indo-European origin
5,531
views
views
50
kinetic theory
mathematical model explaining macroscopic properties of gases in microscopic terms
5,298
views
views
51
elite theory
theory of the state
5,179
views
views
52
Socialism in One Country
political theory by Joseph Stalin
5,046
views
views
53
perturbation theory
quantum mechanics
4,801
views
views
54
probability axioms
axioms that are relevant to the probability theory
4,701
views
views
55
two-nation theory
political ideology that, in the Indian subcontinent, Hindus and Muslims comprise separate nations
4,443
views
views
56
neorealism
concept in international relations
4,411
views
views
57
palingenetic ultranationalism
theory concerning generic fascism
4,403
views
views
58
iron law of oligarchy
Political theory claiming that all organizations will eventually become oligarchic
4,137
views
views
59
Duverger's law
principle in political science
4,132
views
views
60
modern evolutionary synthesis
early-20th-century scientific theory combining Darwinian evolution and Mendelian inheritance
4,088
views
views
61
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.
4,076
views
views
62
Penrose diagram
two-dimensional diagram that captures the causal relations between different points in spacetime
3,977
views
views
63
Madman theory
feature of Richard Nixon's foreign policy
3,930
views
views
64
constitutionalism
political and legal thought holding that government authority derives from and is limited by fundamental law, emphasizing the protection of rights
3,914
views
views
65
growing block universe
past and present exist while the future does not
3,911
views
views
66
Three Worlds Theory
Maoist interpretation and formulation of international relations
3,798
views
views
67
Penrose process
theorical process wherein energy can be extracted from a rotating black hole
3,753
views
views
68
Turing pattern
how patterns in nature, such as stripes and spots, can arise naturally and autonomously from a homogeneous, uniform state
3,711
views
views
69
Bell state
quantum state of two qubits that exhibits maximal quantum entanglement
3,480
views
views
70
Brønsted–Lowry acid–base theory
chemical theory defining acids and bases by transfer of protons (hydrons)
3,399
views
views
71
Minkowski diagram
graph of space and time in special relativity
3,360
views
views
72
Stokes parameters
3,274
views
views
73
domino theory
theory concerning the influence of Communism
3,222
views
views
74
foco
theory of revolution by way of guerrilla warfare
3,174
views
views
75
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
3,137
views
views
76
menstrual synchrony
purported menstrual cycle synchronization in women who live together
3,118
views
views
77
killer ape theory
theory that war and interpersonal aggression was the driving force behind human evolution
3,096
views
views
78
Bell test experiments
experiments in quantum mechanics
3,033
views
views
79
capability approach
economic theory
3,024
views
views
80
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
2,989
views
views
81
voting paradox (Condorcet)
Marquis de Condorcet's observation regarding times when voters' collective preferences are cyclic, even when voters' individual preferences are not
2,935
views
views
82
Aristotle's biology
theory of biology, grounded in systematic observation and collection of data, mainly zoological, embodied in Aristotle's books on the science
2,860
views
views
83
democratic peace theory
theory which posits that democracies are hesitant to engage in armed conflict with other identified democracies
2,828
views
views
84
heat death paradox
paradox relating to fate of universe
2,646
views
views
85
Aristotelian physics
natural sciences as described by Aristotle
2,644
views
views
86
Fresnel zone
region of space involved in radio propagation between a transmitting and receiving antenna
2,614
views
views
87
von Neumann entropy
type of entropy in quantum statistical mechanics
2,591
views
views
88
Chapman–Enskog theory
framework allowing the equations of hydrodynamics for a gas to be derived from the Boltzmann equation
2,554
views
views
89
rotating black hole
black hole with angular momentum
2,522
views
views
90
Stokes flow
fluid flow where advective inertial forces are small compared with viscous forces
2,441
views
views
91
Jahn–Teller effect
mechanism of spontaneous symmetry breaking in molecular and solid-state systems
2,426
views
views
92
post-Marxism
trend in political philosophy and social theory
2,381
views
views
93
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
2,350
views
views
94
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
2,346
views
views
95
costly signaling theory in evolutionary psychology
behavioral theory
2,340
views
views
96
devolution
process of evolving from a complex organism to a simpler organism
2,316
views
views
97
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
2,296
views
views
98
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
2,278
views
views
99
refrigerator mother theory
discredited historical theory that autistic spectrum disorders are caused by a lack of parental emotional warmth
2,235
views
views
100
isospin
quantum number related to the weak interaction
2,157
views
views