| Theory | Reign | Superseded by | Transition | Disproved by | Comment |
| Nature abhors a vacuum | Nearly perfect vacuums can exist (although some contend that recent particle physics theories abrogate this view) | Galileo Galilei Evangelista Torricelli Blaise Pascal Otto Guericke | |||
| Sulphur principle | 1524-c.1669 | Terra pinguis theory | c.1669 | Johann Becher | |
| Terra pinguis theory | 1669-1703 | Phlogiston theory | 1697-1703 | Georg Stahl | |
| Phlogiston theory | 1703-1787 | Caloric theory | 1768-1787 | Antoine Lavoisier | |
| God | Matter (fermions), energy (force) (bosions), vacuum, and laws (of the universe) defining their operations. | 1802 | Pierre Laplace | Comment (to Napoleon): “I had no need of that hypothesis.” See: Napoleon Laplace anecdote | |
| Free will | Affinities, exchange force, readiness potential, induced movement, etc. | 1799-1809 | Johann Goethe | Comment: “None are so hopelessly enslaved than those who believe they are free.” (c.1809); see Elective Affinities. | |
| Caloric theory | 1787-c.1824 | Heat as motion, mechanical equivalent of heat, kinetic theory, entropy, photon, Bohr model, retinal molecule model (of movement) | 1798-1865 | Benjamin Thompson Humphry Davy | |
| Vitalism (life force) | 1771-1842 (although derivatives remained) | Physical-chemical explanations (although the origin of life issue remained, i.e. "life" vs. "non-life" divide or gap). | 1828-early 20th century | Emil Reymond Ernst Brücke Hermann Helmholtz | See: Helmholtz school and the 1842 Reymond-Brucke oath. |
| Ether | Space-time; relativity. | 1905 | Albert Einstein | ||
| Origin of life | 18th century up into 1916 (and further) | There is no origin. | 1916 | William Sidis | Summary: “Our theory of the origin of life is that there is no origin, but only a constant development and change in form.” |
| Life | 3100BC-2009 | Defunct theory of life | 1925-ongoing | Nikola Tesla Libb Thims |