Talk:Fact

Facts and science

I have to say we come close to nonsense in the last section of our page. Facts in science are not isolated things, but part of a complex network of theories, inferences, statements and methods of investigation. An inference of Einstein's theory of special relativity was that the speed of light in a vacuum was the only universal constant. Ever more exact methods were devised to measure this constant. No real exceptions have been found. On that basis, the speed of light in a vacuum is... (whatever it is).

For reasons which are not obvious, the Shapiro delay is not interpreted as a violation of the constancy of the speed of light. Light passing a star takes slightly longer to reach us. It is interpreted as an effect of gravitational time dilation (theory of general relativity). (Time is not a constant)

I am just making the point that facts in science are not simple things, they are tied into the whole theoretical structure of the science. Macdonald-ross (talk) 16:23, 25 February 2016 (UTC)