Q:

put forward in explanation or put forward to explain

A hypothesis is a supposition put forward in explanation of observed facts.
Is this sentence wrong??and if it is then why?
In a grammar book the right form of this sentence is given by this way - "A hypothesis is a supposition put forward to explain observed facts." or "A hypothesis is a supposition put forward as an explanation of observed facts."

A:

Your sentence is correct, but the others read better, as there can be no confusion from the word 'in'.
There may be some confusion regarding 'put forward in', as you might think the hypothesis was 'put forward in somewhere'.
There won't be any confusion from 'as an explanation of'.

