WaldoMcFroog - I could not agree more. So few people seem to understand the difference between a common or everyday theory (eg. I think he did it because of X, Y and Z) and a scientific �theory�. Unfortunately the scientific community has chosen to use the word �theory� to describe many of its fundamental scientific principals and this has prompted many people to say, �� well, it�s just a theory��. They could not be more wrong.
To everyone else - To most people, a theory is just an idea which may or may not be true. To a scientist a theory is something very different indeed. To most people, a �law� would trump a mere �theory�. But in scientific terminology, the relationship is the other way around. A scientific �law� describes what something does, often through the use of equations. The �theory� explains WHY this happens.
For example. Newton described gravitational �law� as being, and I�m paraphrasing here, �an object will accelerate to earth at 9.81 metres, per second, per second.�
Einstein�s Theory of Relativity explains WHY this happens.
Darwin�s �theory� of evolution is exactly the same. It explains why animals exhibit the characteristic biological traits they do and explains where they came from. It�s a scientific theory that has been in existence for more then 100 years and has never been �disproved�. To dismiss Darwin�s Theory of Evolution as a mere �theory� is to totally misunderstand the scientific method.