Trending Scientific Theories in USA — the 7 days to 25 October 2026
The 100 most-viewed scientific theories on Wikipedia, the 7 days to 25 October 2026 (English-language edition). Ranked by real-world attention. Top: Big Bang. Data as of 25 October 2026.
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- the 7 days to 25 October 2026 · Data as of 25 October 2026
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- 100 scientific theories — drawn from 6,567,019 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
202,208
Total Views (the 7 days to 25 October 2026)
1
Big Bang
hypothetical begin of the Universe through expansion out of an infinitely small and infinitely dense state
15,182
views
views
2
flat Earth
archaic conception of the Earth's shape
13,578
views
views
3
anarchism
a philosophy, movement, and political ideology that holds that any government, like the state, is undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful
11,105
views
views
4
Fermi paradox
apparent contradiction between the lack of evidence and high probability estimates for the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations
10,639
views
views
5
theory of relativity
two interrelated physics theories by Albert Einstein
7,393
views
views
6
race
nonscientific human classification system primarily based on physical appearance
7,039
views
views
7
accelerationism
political philosophy that the prevailing system of capitalism should be expanded in order to generate radical social change
6,496
views
views
8
general relativity
standard and classical physics theory of gravity and space
6,338
views
views
9
uncertainty principle
fundamental principle in quantum physics
6,267
views
views
10
Dyson sphere
hypothetical megastructure, originally described by Freeman Dyson
5,043
views
views
11
special relativity
physical theory of measurement in an inertial frame of reference proposed in 1905 by Albert Einstein
4,243
views
views
12
Coriolis force
apparent or fictitious force on objects moving within a reference frame that rotates with respect to an inertial frame
4,074
views
views
13
infrared radiation
electromagnetic radiation with longer wavelengths than those of visible light
3,832
views
views
14
Bose–Einstein condensate
state of matter of a dilute gas of bosons cooled to temperatures very near absolute zero
3,410
views
views
15
meritocracy
political system in which capital is assigned on the basis of competence
3,232
views
views
16
boson
quantum system invariant by exchange of two identical instances
3,048
views
views
17
germ theory of disease
prevailing theory about the cause of infectious diseases
2,894
views
views
18
Einstein field equations
field equations in general relativity
2,595
views
views
19
technofeudalism
political theory
2,530
views
views
20
miasma theory
obsolete medical theory about the transmission of disease through bad air
2,522
views
views
21
heliocentrism
astronomical model in which the Earth and planets revolve around a relatively stationary Sun at the center of the Solar System
2,517
views
views
22
big lie
gross distortion or misrepresentation of the truth
2,486
views
views
23
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
2,398
views
views
24
trickle-down economics
economic theory
2,265
views
views
25
Third International Theory
theory of governance proposed by Muammar Gaddafi
2,263
views
views
26
axial tilt
angle between the rotational axis and orbital axis of a body
1,957
views
views
27
continental drift
movement of Earth's continents relative to each other
1,957
views
views
28
Lamarckism
hypothesis that an organism can pass on characteristics that it has acquired through use or disuse during its lifetime to its offspring
1,953
views
views
29
Darwinism
theory of biological evolution driven by natural selection
1,927
views
views
30
Realism
international relations theory
1,849
views
views
31
insanity
abnormal mental or behavioral patterns
1,735
views
views
32
HIV/AIDS denialism
unsubstantiated denial of the scientific fact that HIV causes AIDS
1,681
views
views
33
spherical Earth
assertion that the Earth is (at least approximately) spherical
1,560
views
views
34
vitalism
discredited scientific hypothesis
1,500
views
views
35
History of atomic theory
history of scientific theory that views matter as made up of atoms of chemical elements
1,459
views
views
36
Pauli effect
supposed tendency of technical equipment to fail in the presence of certain people
1,445
views
views
37
spontaneous generation
disproven theory of life arising from nonliving matter
1,424
views
views
38
Socialism in One Country
political theory by Joseph Stalin
1,390
views
views
39
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
1,373
views
views
40
phlogiston theory
superseded scientific theory about combustion
1,368
views
views
41
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
1,330
views
views
42
von Mises yield criterion
concept in continuum mechanics
1,251
views
views
43
principal–agent problem
conflict of interest when one agent makes decisions on another's behalf
1,240
views
views
44
Kurgan hypothesis
theory of Indo-European origin
1,239
views
views
45
Bose-Einstein statistics
statistical description for the behaviour of bosons
1,214
views
views
46
Duverger's law
principle in political science
1,191
views
views
47
iron law of oligarchy
Political theory claiming that all organizations will eventually become oligarchic
1,157
views
views
48
Fermi–Dirac statistics
behaviour of many identical fermions, particles with half-integer spin
1,125
views
views
49
perturbation theory
quantum mechanics
1,083
views
views
50
elite theory
theory of the state
1,067
views
views
51
free energy principle
hypothesis in neuroscience proposed by Karl Friston
1,009
views
views
52
kinetic theory
mathematical model explaining macroscopic properties of gases in microscopic terms
961
views
views
53
neorealism
concept in international relations
951
views
views
54
two-nation theory
political ideology that, in the Indian subcontinent, Hindus and Muslims comprise separate nations
932
views
views
55
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
917
views
views
56
palingenetic ultranationalism
theory concerning generic fascism
904
views
views
57
Turing pattern
how patterns in nature, such as stripes and spots, can arise naturally and autonomously from a homogeneous, uniform state
896
views
views
58
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.
889
views
views
59
probability axioms
axioms that are relevant to the probability theory
846
views
views
60
Penrose process
theorical process wherein energy can be extracted from a rotating black hole
821
views
views
61
Three Worlds Theory
Maoist interpretation and formulation of international relations
808
views
views
62
growing block universe
past and present exist while the future does not
777
views
views
63
modern evolutionary synthesis
early-20th-century scientific theory combining Darwinian evolution and Mendelian inheritance
733
views
views
64
foco
theory of revolution by way of guerrilla warfare
724
views
views
65
Bell state
quantum state of two qubits that exhibits maximal quantum entanglement
724
views
views
66
voting paradox (Condorcet)
Marquis de Condorcet's observation regarding times when voters' collective preferences are cyclic, even when voters' individual preferences are not
721
views
views
67
Fresnel zone
region of space involved in radio propagation between a transmitting and receiving antenna
719
views
views
68
Brønsted–Lowry acid–base theory
chemical theory defining acids and bases by transfer of protons (hydrons)
711
views
views
69
Stokes parameters
711
views
views
70
domino theory
theory concerning the influence of Communism
691
views
views
71
Penrose diagram
two-dimensional diagram that captures the causal relations between different points in spacetime
685
views
views
72
Madman theory
feature of Richard Nixon's foreign policy
683
views
views
73
post-Marxism
trend in political philosophy and social theory
667
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
628
views
views
75
Bell test experiments
experiments in quantum mechanics
601
views
views
76
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
568
views
views
77
capability approach
economic theory
561
views
views
78
Jahn–Teller effect
mechanism of spontaneous symmetry breaking in molecular and solid-state systems
559
views
views
79
isospin
quantum number related to the weak interaction
558
views
views
80
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
554
views
views
81
Stokes flow
fluid flow where advective inertial forces are small compared with viscous forces
554
views
views
82
Aristotelian physics
natural sciences as described by Aristotle
550
views
views
83
democratic peace theory
theory which posits that democracies are hesitant to engage in armed conflict with other identified democracies
542
views
views
84
Rényi entropy
family of diversity measures generalising Shannon entropy
535
views
views
85
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
530
views
views
86
heat death paradox
paradox relating to fate of universe
528
views
views
87
killer ape theory
theory that war and interpersonal aggression was the driving force behind human evolution
527
views
views
88
tidal acceleration
cause of tidal locking
517
views
views
89
preformationism
formerly-popular theory that organisms develop from miniature versions of themselves
503
views
views
90
rotating black hole
black hole with angular momentum
500
views
views
91
Fresnel diffraction
diffraction
498
views
views
92
menstrual synchrony
purported menstrual cycle synchronization in women who live together
497
views
views
93
refrigerator mother theory
discredited historical theory that autistic spectrum disorders are caused by a lack of parental emotional warmth
485
views
views
94
Bethe formula
moving charge energy loss formula found by Hans Bethe
477
views
views
95
Aristotle's biology
theory of biology, grounded in systematic observation and collection of data, mainly zoological, embodied in Aristotle's books on the science
469
views
views
96
Klein–Nishina formula
electron-photon scattering cross section
428
views
views
97
von Neumann entropy
type of entropy in quantum statistical mechanics
428
views
views
98
particle horizon
the maximum distance from which light from particles could have traveled to the observer during the age of the universe
427
views
views
99
caloric theory
obsolete scientific theory of heat flow
422
views
views
100
Flory–Huggins solution theory
Lattice model of polymer solutions
418
views
views