Abstract
A theory should not be confused with a hypothesis. A hypothesis is a supposition that looks well but still has to be proven. Originally, “theory” (ϑεωρια) was the Greek term indicating the act of concentratedly and religiously looking at a theatre, its actors giving an ordered message. It has come to mean, in a figurative sense, looking at ordered facts so as to read the information which they convey. The order in a theory often is very abstract, and theories often claim universal validity. A theory concerning a limited system will here be called a model. This distinction is not made in this way by all authors.
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© 1990 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Oldeman, R.A.A. (1990). Build-Up and Use of Theories. In: Forests: Elements of Silvology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-75211-7_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-75211-7_2
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
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