Trending Scientific Theories in USA — the 7 days to 27 October 2026
The 100 most-viewed scientific theories on Wikipedia, the 7 days to 27 October 2026 (English-language edition). Ranked by real-world attention. Top: Big Bang. Data as of 27 October 2026.
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- the 7 days to 27 October 2026 · Data as of 27 October 2026
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- 100 scientific theories — drawn from 6,592,336 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
217,933
Total Views (the 7 days to 27 October 2026)
1
Big Bang
hypothetical begin of the Universe through expansion out of an infinitely small and infinitely dense state
15,487
views
views
2
flat Earth
archaic conception of the Earth's shape
14,435
views
views
3
anarchism
a philosophy, movement, and political ideology that holds that any government, like the state, is undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful
11,476
views
views
4
Fermi paradox
apparent contradiction between the lack of evidence and high probability estimates for the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations
11,370
views
views
5
theory of relativity
two interrelated physics theories by Albert Einstein
8,223
views
views
6
race
nonscientific human classification system primarily based on physical appearance
7,303
views
views
7
general relativity
standard and classical physics theory of gravity and space
6,722
views
views
8
accelerationism
political philosophy that the prevailing system of capitalism should be expanded in order to generate radical social change
6,565
views
views
9
uncertainty principle
fundamental principle in quantum physics
6,533
views
views
10
Dyson sphere
hypothetical megastructure, originally described by Freeman Dyson
5,117
views
views
11
special relativity
physical theory of measurement in an inertial frame of reference proposed in 1905 by Albert Einstein
4,525
views
views
12
Coriolis force
apparent or fictitious force on objects moving within a reference frame that rotates with respect to an inertial frame
4,244
views
views
13
infrared radiation
electromagnetic radiation with longer wavelengths than those of visible light
4,000
views
views
14
Bose–Einstein condensate
state of matter of a dilute gas of bosons cooled to temperatures very near absolute zero
3,791
views
views
15
boson
quantum system invariant by exchange of two identical instances
3,507
views
views
16
meritocracy
political system in which capital is assigned on the basis of competence
3,474
views
views
17
germ theory of disease
prevailing theory about the cause of infectious diseases
3,028
views
views
18
race and intelligence
discussions and claims of differences in intelligence along racial lines
2,925
views
views
19
big lie
gross distortion or misrepresentation of the truth
2,819
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
2,764
views
views
21
technofeudalism
political theory
2,714
views
views
22
heliocentrism
astronomical model in which the Earth and planets revolve around a relatively stationary Sun at the center of the Solar System
2,682
views
views
23
Einstein field equations
field equations in general relativity
2,675
views
views
24
miasma theory
obsolete medical theory about the transmission of disease through bad air
2,556
views
views
25
Third International Theory
theory of governance proposed by Muammar Gaddafi
2,466
views
views
26
trickle-down economics
economic theory
2,343
views
views
27
episcopal polity
form of church governance consisting of a hierarchy of bishops
2,086
views
views
28
axial tilt
angle between the rotational axis and orbital axis of a body
2,043
views
views
29
Lamarckism
hypothesis that an organism can pass on characteristics that it has acquired through use or disuse during its lifetime to its offspring
2,041
views
views
30
Darwinism
theory of biological evolution driven by natural selection
2,011
views
views
31
continental drift
movement of Earth's continents relative to each other
1,970
views
views
32
Realism
international relations theory
1,855
views
views
33
insanity
abnormal mental or behavioral patterns
1,764
views
views
34
Pauli effect
supposed tendency of technical equipment to fail in the presence of certain people
1,693
views
views
35
Copernican heliocentrism
concept that the Earth rotates around the Sun
1,681
views
views
36
spontaneous generation
disproven theory of life arising from nonliving matter
1,680
views
views
37
spherical Earth
assertion that the Earth is (at least approximately) spherical
1,665
views
views
38
History of atomic theory
history of scientific theory that views matter as made up of atoms of chemical elements
1,567
views
views
39
vitalism
discredited scientific hypothesis
1,559
views
views
40
Socialism in One Country
political theory by Joseph Stalin
1,520
views
views
41
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
1,472
views
views
42
Bose-Einstein statistics
statistical description for the behaviour of bosons
1,447
views
views
43
phlogiston theory
superseded scientific theory about combustion
1,374
views
views
44
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
1,354
views
views
45
Fermi–Dirac statistics
behaviour of many identical fermions, particles with half-integer spin
1,262
views
views
46
principal–agent problem
conflict of interest when one agent makes decisions on another's behalf
1,252
views
views
47
von Mises yield criterion
concept in continuum mechanics
1,230
views
views
48
Duverger's law
principle in political science
1,214
views
views
49
Kurgan hypothesis
theory of Indo-European origin
1,153
views
views
50
iron law of oligarchy
Political theory claiming that all organizations will eventually become oligarchic
1,094
views
views
51
elite theory
theory of the state
1,093
views
views
52
perturbation theory
quantum mechanics
1,092
views
views
53
free energy principle
hypothesis in neuroscience proposed by Karl Friston
1,073
views
views
54
Turing pattern
how patterns in nature, such as stripes and spots, can arise naturally and autonomously from a homogeneous, uniform state
1,062
views
views
55
two-nation theory
political ideology that, in the Indian subcontinent, Hindus and Muslims comprise separate nations
1,048
views
views
56
kinetic theory
mathematical model explaining macroscopic properties of gases in microscopic terms
1,033
views
views
57
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
1,018
views
views
58
neorealism
concept in international relations
971
views
views
59
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.
966
views
views
60
constitutionalism
political and legal thought holding that government authority derives from and is limited by fundamental law, emphasizing the protection of rights
936
views
views
61
palingenetic ultranationalism
theory concerning generic fascism
931
views
views
62
probability axioms
axioms that are relevant to the probability theory
854
views
views
63
Penrose process
theorical process wherein energy can be extracted from a rotating black hole
839
views
views
64
Three Worlds Theory
Maoist interpretation and formulation of international relations
839
views
views
65
growing block universe
past and present exist while the future does not
804
views
views
66
foco
theory of revolution by way of guerrilla warfare
802
views
views
67
modern evolutionary synthesis
early-20th-century scientific theory combining Darwinian evolution and Mendelian inheritance
800
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
799
views
views
69
Minkowski diagram
graph of space and time in special relativity
783
views
views
70
Bell state
quantum state of two qubits that exhibits maximal quantum entanglement
782
views
views
71
Fresnel zone
region of space involved in radio propagation between a transmitting and receiving antenna
766
views
views
72
Stokes parameters
755
views
views
73
Brønsted–Lowry acid–base theory
chemical theory defining acids and bases by transfer of protons (hydrons)
753
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
706
views
views
75
Madman theory
feature of Richard Nixon's foreign policy
699
views
views
76
Penrose diagram
two-dimensional diagram that captures the causal relations between different points in spacetime
696
views
views
77
domino theory
theory concerning the influence of Communism
692
views
views
78
post-Marxism
trend in political philosophy and social theory
668
views
views
79
Bell test experiments
experiments in quantum mechanics
655
views
views
80
capability approach
economic theory
633
views
views
81
Aristotelian physics
natural sciences as described by Aristotle
587
views
views
82
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
583
views
views
83
democratic peace theory
theory which posits that democracies are hesitant to engage in armed conflict with other identified democracies
582
views
views
84
Rényi entropy
family of diversity measures generalising Shannon entropy
570
views
views
85
Jahn–Teller effect
mechanism of spontaneous symmetry breaking in molecular and solid-state systems
567
views
views
86
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
564
views
views
87
isospin
quantum number related to the weak interaction
552
views
views
88
preformationism
formerly-popular theory that organisms develop from miniature versions of themselves
548
views
views
89
menstrual synchrony
purported menstrual cycle synchronization in women who live together
548
views
views
90
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
542
views
views
91
rotating black hole
black hole with angular momentum
540
views
views
92
killer ape theory
theory that war and interpersonal aggression was the driving force behind human evolution
535
views
views
93
refrigerator mother theory
discredited historical theory that autistic spectrum disorders are caused by a lack of parental emotional warmth
525
views
views
94
Fresnel diffraction
diffraction
504
views
views
95
heat death paradox
paradox relating to fate of universe
494
views
views
96
tidal acceleration
cause of tidal locking
490
views
views
97
von Neumann entropy
type of entropy in quantum statistical mechanics
488
views
views
98
Stokes flow
fluid flow where advective inertial forces are small compared with viscous forces
486
views
views
99
Bethe formula
moving charge energy loss formula found by Hans Bethe
476
views
views
100
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
473
views
views