All 7 Uses
hypothesis
in
The Three-Body Problem
(Edited)
- This was a reference to two hypotheses, both involving the fundamental nature of the laws of the universe.
p. 74.5hypotheses = ideas or explanations that are seemingly reasonable, but unproven
- In the shooter hypothesis, a good marksman shoots at a target, creating a hole every ten centimeters.
p. 74.5hypothesis = a seemingly reasonable, but unproven, idea or explanation
- The farmer hypothesis, on the other hand, has the flavor of a horror story: Every morning on a turkey farm, the farmer comes to feed the turkeys.
p. 74.7
- Unconsciously, he had named the two hypotheses that he ought to have avoided.
p. 91.6hypotheses = ideas or explanations that are seemingly reasonable, but unproven
- She was the first to experimentally disprove the hypothetical "law of conservation of parity" and thereby lend support to the work of theoretical physicists Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen-Ning Yang.
p. 115.9hypothetical = based on a seemingly reasonable, but unproven, explanation of known facts
- According to your hypothesis, there should be another observable situation: The sun must get smaller than it usually appears but bigger than a flying star, and gradually shrink into a flying star as it moves farther away.
p. 184.9hypothesis = theory
- But there was a more direct way to prove the hypothesis: Red Coast itself could transmit radio waves directly at the sun at a power level exceeding the threshold value.
p. 263.6 *hypothesis = a seemingly reasonable, but unproven, idea or explanation
Definitions:
-
(1)
(hypothesis as in: a study to test her hypothesis) a seemingly reasonable, but unproven idea or explanation based upon known factsIn casual conversation, theory is a synonym for hypothesis, but a scientist would say that a hypothesis needs to pass rigorous tests before it could be accepted as a theory.
-
(2)
(hypothesis as in: assume as a working hypothesis) something that may or may not be true, but is temporarily treated as true to advance a discussion or to further investigationThis sense of hypothesis is typically seen in the form, hypothetical, or hypothetically.
- (3) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)