We constantly say that Einstein’s General and Special theories of relativity have passed many different tests, insenuating their accuracy.
Before Einsten, we tested Isaac Newton’s theories, which also passed with accuracy until Einstein came along.
What’s to say another Einstein/Newton comes along 200-300 years from now to dispute Einstein’s theories?
Is that even possible or are his theories grounded in certainty at this point?
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Newton didn’t pass all the tests. His theories broke down when things got really small. But they still worked well enough that they’re useful to this day. (Nobody’s breaking out quantum mechanics or general relativity to describe a baseball pitch. Newton’s laws of motion are more than good enough.)
The thing about scientific theories is that scientists keep trying to break them. That’s basically science. (Break something, come up with something better and then try to break that.) As the years go by, a theory that withstands every challenge just gains more and more credibility.
It doesn’t mean that we will never break it. (It could just be that we lack accurate enough measuring tools to actually observe it break down.) But when so many really smart physicists have spent the better part of a hundred years hacking away at Einstein’s work and it still won’t give way… We can have a fair degree of confidence that Einstein got something right.
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