Trending Scientific Theories in USA — the 12 months to October 2026
The 100 most-viewed scientific theories on Wikipedia, the 12 months to October 2026 (English-language edition). Ranked by real-world attention. Top: Big Bang. Data as of 27 October 2026.
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- the 12 months to October 2026 · Data as of 27 October 2026
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- 100 scientific theories — drawn from 7,008,590 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
1,733,036
Total Views (the 12 months to October 2026)
1
Big Bang
hypothetical begin of the Universe through expansion out of an infinitely small and infinitely dense state
126,525
views
views
2
Fermi paradox
apparent contradiction between the lack of evidence and high probability estimates for the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations
101,931
views
views
3
flat Earth
archaic conception of the Earth's shape
87,045
views
views
4
anarchism
a philosophy, movement, and political ideology that holds that any government, like the state, is undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful
82,734
views
views
5
theory of relativity
two interrelated physics theories by Albert Einstein
68,593
views
views
6
race
nonscientific human classification system primarily based on physical appearance
65,458
views
views
7
general relativity
standard and classical physics theory of gravity and space
52,875
views
views
8
accelerationism
political philosophy that the prevailing system of capitalism should be expanded in order to generate radical social change
51,590
views
views
9
uncertainty principle
fundamental principle in quantum physics
50,889
views
views
10
Dyson sphere
hypothetical megastructure, originally described by Freeman Dyson
47,887
views
views
11
special relativity
physical theory of measurement in an inertial frame of reference proposed in 1905 by Albert Einstein
38,404
views
views
12
Coriolis force
apparent or fictitious force on objects moving within a reference frame that rotates with respect to an inertial frame
34,334
views
views
13
infrared radiation
electromagnetic radiation with longer wavelengths than those of visible light
31,433
views
views
14
Bose–Einstein condensate
state of matter of a dilute gas of bosons cooled to temperatures very near absolute zero
28,971
views
views
15
meritocracy
political system in which capital is assigned on the basis of competence
27,237
views
views
16
race and intelligence
discussions and claims of differences in intelligence along racial lines
26,826
views
views
17
germ theory of disease
prevailing theory about the cause of infectious diseases
26,218
views
views
18
boson
quantum system invariant by exchange of two identical instances
25,143
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
24,223
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
24,170
views
views
21
miasma theory
obsolete medical theory about the transmission of disease through bad air
22,729
views
views
22
Einstein field equations
field equations in general relativity
22,196
views
views
23
big lie
gross distortion or misrepresentation of the truth
19,775
views
views
24
Third International Theory
theory of governance proposed by Muammar Gaddafi
18,669
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
18,504
views
views
26
trickle-down economics
economic theory
18,462
views
views
27
Darwinism
theory of biological evolution driven by natural selection
17,531
views
views
28
axial tilt
angle between the rotational axis and orbital axis of a body
17,362
views
views
29
continental drift
movement of Earth's continents relative to each other
16,671
views
views
30
episcopal polity
form of church governance consisting of a hierarchy of bishops
16,427
views
views
31
spontaneous generation
disproven theory of life arising from nonliving matter
14,990
views
views
32
Copernican heliocentrism
concept that the Earth rotates around the Sun
14,587
views
views
33
spherical Earth
assertion that the Earth is (at least approximately) spherical
14,343
views
views
34
insanity
abnormal mental or behavioral patterns
14,325
views
views
35
Realism
international relations theory
14,087
views
views
36
History of atomic theory
history of scientific theory that views matter as made up of atoms of chemical elements
13,618
views
views
37
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
13,372
views
views
38
phlogiston theory
superseded scientific theory about combustion
12,424
views
views
39
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
11,865
views
views
40
vitalism
discredited scientific hypothesis
11,861
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
11,692
views
views
42
technofeudalism
political theory
10,956
views
views
43
Bose-Einstein statistics
statistical description for the behaviour of bosons
10,795
views
views
44
Kurgan hypothesis
theory of Indo-European origin
10,674
views
views
45
Rényi entropy
family of diversity measures generalising Shannon entropy
10,620
views
views
46
von Mises yield criterion
concept in continuum mechanics
10,382
views
views
47
free energy principle
hypothesis in neuroscience proposed by Karl Friston
10,322
views
views
48
Fermi–Dirac statistics
behaviour of many identical fermions, particles with half-integer spin
10,222
views
views
49
principal–agent problem
conflict of interest when one agent makes decisions on another's behalf
9,415
views
views
50
Socialism in One Country
political theory by Joseph Stalin
9,272
views
views
51
kinetic theory
mathematical model explaining macroscopic properties of gases in microscopic terms
8,585
views
views
52
elite theory
theory of the state
8,573
views
views
53
two-nation theory
political ideology that, in the Indian subcontinent, Hindus and Muslims comprise separate nations
8,526
views
views
54
perturbation theory
quantum mechanics
8,394
views
views
55
palingenetic ultranationalism
theory concerning generic fascism
7,901
views
views
56
neorealism
concept in international relations
7,245
views
views
57
probability axioms
axioms that are relevant to the probability theory
7,220
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.
7,135
views
views
59
modern evolutionary synthesis
early-20th-century scientific theory combining Darwinian evolution and Mendelian inheritance
7,043
views
views
60
Turing pattern
how patterns in nature, such as stripes and spots, can arise naturally and autonomously from a homogeneous, uniform state
6,990
views
views
61
Duverger's law
principle in political science
6,946
views
views
62
iron law of oligarchy
Political theory claiming that all organizations will eventually become oligarchic
6,930
views
views
63
growing block universe
past and present exist while the future does not
6,917
views
views
64
Penrose diagram
two-dimensional diagram that captures the causal relations between different points in spacetime
6,896
views
views
65
Penrose process
theorical process wherein energy can be extracted from a rotating black hole
6,821
views
views
66
Madman theory
feature of Richard Nixon's foreign policy
6,661
views
views
67
Three Worlds Theory
Maoist interpretation and formulation of international relations
6,639
views
views
68
constitutionalism
political and legal thought holding that government authority derives from and is limited by fundamental law, emphasizing the protection of rights
6,634
views
views
69
domino theory
theory concerning the influence of Communism
6,176
views
views
70
menstrual synchrony
purported menstrual cycle synchronization in women who live together
5,881
views
views
71
Minkowski diagram
graph of space and time in special relativity
5,715
views
views
72
Brønsted–Lowry acid–base theory
chemical theory defining acids and bases by transfer of protons (hydrons)
5,703
views
views
73
foco
theory of revolution by way of guerrilla warfare
5,682
views
views
74
Bell state
quantum state of two qubits that exhibits maximal quantum entanglement
5,651
views
views
75
Stokes parameters
5,448
views
views
76
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
5,345
views
views
77
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
5,242
views
views
78
Aristotle's biology
theory of biology, grounded in systematic observation and collection of data, mainly zoological, embodied in Aristotle's books on the science
5,011
views
views
79
killer ape theory
theory that war and interpersonal aggression was the driving force behind human evolution
4,976
views
views
80
capability approach
economic theory
4,967
views
views
81
Bell test experiments
experiments in quantum mechanics
4,867
views
views
82
voting paradox (Condorcet)
Marquis de Condorcet's observation regarding times when voters' collective preferences are cyclic, even when voters' individual preferences are not
4,745
views
views
83
democratic peace theory
theory which posits that democracies are hesitant to engage in armed conflict with other identified democracies
4,646
views
views
84
Fresnel zone
region of space involved in radio propagation between a transmitting and receiving antenna
4,602
views
views
85
rotating black hole
black hole with angular momentum
4,476
views
views
86
von Neumann entropy
type of entropy in quantum statistical mechanics
4,454
views
views
87
heat death paradox
paradox relating to fate of universe
4,431
views
views
88
Aristotelian physics
natural sciences as described by Aristotle
4,418
views
views
89
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
4,376
views
views
90
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
4,196
views
views
91
Jahn–Teller effect
mechanism of spontaneous symmetry breaking in molecular and solid-state systems
4,160
views
views
92
post-Marxism
trend in political philosophy and social theory
4,121
views
views
93
costly signaling theory in evolutionary psychology
behavioral theory
4,088
views
views
94
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
4,060
views
views
95
devolution
process of evolving from a complex organism to a simpler organism
3,989
views
views
96
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
3,915
views
views
97
refrigerator mother theory
discredited historical theory that autistic spectrum disorders are caused by a lack of parental emotional warmth
3,799
views
views
98
Fresnel diffraction
diffraction
3,785
views
views
99
particle horizon
the maximum distance from which light from particles could have traveled to the observer during the age of the universe
3,735
views
views
100
Stokes flow
fluid flow where advective inertial forces are small compared with viscous forces
3,686
views
views