Nature of science - 2.3

Theories generally accommodate the assumptions and premises of other theories, creating a consistent understanding across a range of phenomena and disciplines. Occasionally, however, a new theory will radically change how essential concepts are understood or framed, impacting other theories and causing what is sometimes called a 'paradigm shift', in science. One of the most famous paradigm shifts in science occurred when our idea of time changed from an absolute frame of reference to an observer-dependent frame of reference within Einstein’s theory of relativity. Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection also changed our understanding of life on Earth.