Full Idea
A remarkable fact about modern science is that as the number of phenomena which science has investigated has grown, the number of theories needed to explain them has decreased.
Gist of Idea
As science investigates more phenomena, the theories it needs decreases
Source
Alexander Bird (Philosophy of Science [1998], Ch.4)
Book Reference
Bird,Alexander: 'Philosophy of Science' [UCL Press 2000], p.150
A Reaction
This rebuts the idea that theories are probably false because we are unlikely to have thought of the right one (Idea 6784). More data suggests more theories, yet we end up with fewer theories. Why is simplification of theories possible?
Related Idea
Idea 6784 Why should the true explanation be one of the few we have actually thought of? [Fraassen, by Bird]