¶ … Dangling Particles, physicist Lisa Randall explains why the complexities and abstract nature of modern science only makes it even more incomprehensible to the layman. For example, virtually everything we know today about quantum mechanics at the smallest end of the spectrum of matter and everything we know about galaxy formation at the largest end of the spectrum requires advanced scientific training to conceptualize. A layperson relying exclusively on direct observation and on the traditional notions of the four dimensions cannot possibly understand what quantum physicists men by "strings" or about the nature or gravity and the particles whose theoretical existence allows scientists to deduce the existence of things (like additional dimensions) that cannot be observed directly in any way. The other main idea of the author is that the very notion of what a theory is in the scientific context adds to confusion and misunderstanding. In everyday parlance, theory refers...

However, in science, the concept of theory refers to systems of analysis that have been experimentally confirmed and that represent frameworks for further understanding. Einstein's Theory of Relativity is a perfect example; biological evolution is another. Both have been confirmed unequivocally in their broad principles and through specific predictions that have been confirmed. Unfortunately, the layman's understanding of theory equates utterly baseless theories (like Intelligent Design) with genuine scientific principles like Relativity and Evolution. The former is an untestable "theory"; the latter two are factual.
The very different uses of the word "theory" provide a field day for advocates of "intelligent design." By conflating a scientific theory with the colloquial use of the word, creationists instantly diminish the significance of science in general and evolution's supporting scientific evidence in…