The term theory has two broad sets of meanings, one used in the empirical sciences (both natural and social) and the other used in philosophy, mathematics, logic, and across other fields in the humanities. There is considerable difference and even dispute across academic disciplines as to the proper usages of the term. What follows is an attempt to describe how the term is used, not to try to say how it ought to be used.
A theory, in the scientific sense of the word, is an analytic structure designed to explain a set of empirical observations. It must respect the scientific method. A scientific theory identifies a set of distinct observations as a class of phenomena, and it makes assertions about the underlying reality that brings about or affects this class. It is described in such a way that any scientist in the field is in a position to understand, and challenge it. A scientific theory generally comes with or generates potential applications in the real world, allowing solutions that were not previously possible.
The word theory, in its philosophical sense, means that is the subject matter being discussed consists itself of ideas rather than empirical data. It is not supposed to be proven, nor does it follow a scientific method.
Theory in mathematics hardly follows any of these definitions, and describes generally a corpus of knowledge such as number theory.
Although the scientific meaning is by far the more commonly used in academic literature and discourse, it is hardly the only one used and it would be a mistake to assume a priori that a given use of the term "theory" is a reference to a scientific or empirically-based theory.
The word 'theory' is generally considered to derive from Greek θεωρία theoria (Jerome), Greek "contemplation, speculation", from θεωρός "spectator", θέα thea "a view" + ὁρᾶν horan "to see", literally "looking at a show".[1] A second possible etymology traces the word back to το θείον to theion "divine things" instead of thea, reflecting the concept of contemplating the divine organisation (Cosmos) of the nature. The word has been in use in English since at least the late 16th century.[2]
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The theory (and it's only a theory ) floated by TechCrunch's Jason Kincaid is that appbooks conflict with Apple's forthcoming iBooks app which will be ...
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