NO. THE EVIDENCE FOR EVOLUTION IS OVERWHELMING. That was the first line in large print I remember reading in the National Geographic article. Evolution is one of the most solid theories in science. Wait you said theory? Yes that's right, a scientific theory. Creationists love to play the 'just a theory card' when not knowing exactly what theory means. In science, theories are a term and model used to explain a set of facts in their relation to one another. In evolution we have thousands upon thousands of facts that have been observable over history as well as in real time. Evolutionary theory is the term used to describe the vast amount of facts and how the process works. If a college student wanted to study physics, they may have to take an atomic theory class. And just as well, Einstein's general relativity is the theory of gravitation that improved on Newton's theory of gravitation.
"Let me try to make crystal clear what is established beyond reasonable doubt, and what needs further study, about evolution. Evolution as a process that has always gone on in the history of the earth can be doubted only by those who are ignorant of the evidence or are resistant to evidence, owing to emotional blocks or to plain bigotry. By contrast, the mechanisms that bring evolution about certainly need study and clarification. There are no alternatives to evolution as history that can withstand critical examination. Yet we are constantly learning new and important facts about evolutionary mechanisms." - Theodosius Dobzhansky, Biologist. He made this quote in 1973, before the understanding of genetics, hence 'mechanisms that bring evolution about certainly need study and clarification.'
Evolution has stood up in every facet of science including archaeology, biogeography, biology, chemistry, comparative anatomy, embryology, genetics, geology, neuroscience, paleontology, pharmacology, and physics. The key is that many fields came to the same conclusion independently. Here is a brief preview of some of the fields that make up evolution:
- Fossil Record- The weight of the fossil record is twofold. First, you can make predictions on when the species lived and in what strata layer they will show up based on dating techniques. For the record, no fossil has ever been found in the wrong strata layer. Oh and also, the fossils found in the dated strata layer also matches the estimated dating techniques in genetics.
- Geographical Distribution- Looks at species distribution and the relationships among species themselves and in relation to geography. So sorry Noah's Ark, your ship didn't sail. Unless you want to claim that when the flood went down, penguins waddled their way to Antarctica.
- Domestic Selection- Man has their hand in evolution which has been demonstrated and documented in dog and pigeon breeding as well in the lab with everything from bacteria to flies.
- Genetics- Every creationists nightmare. Genetics essentially put the proof in the pudding for the evidence of evolution. Even showing that natural selection does indeed work. Dawkins claimed that the one observation to refute creationism was the pattern of resemblances you see when you compare the genes, using modern DNA techniques, of any pair of animals and form a perfect family tree.
- Development & Embryology- The study of the similarities between species during embryo development. Darwin originally made observations of this field in his 1859 publication, On the Origin of Species. It has gained recent popularity and is now dubbed Evolutionary Development or Evo-Devo.
In the coming posts I will lay out the evidence supporting each of these claims.
"Even as the evolution wars rage, on school boards and in courtrooms, biologists continue to accumulate empirical data supporting Darwinian theory."
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