From: lamoran@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca (L.A. Moran)
Newsgroups: talk.origins,alt.atheism
Subject: Evolution; fact and theory

Many people have pointed out that evolution is a fact but Allen Olson says,

     "I doubt that you will find many scientists that agree with your
      loose usage of the term "fact." The theory of evolution is an
      explanation of facts. So far as the evidence shows, the theory
      of evolution is the best explanation of the facts scientists
      have been able to find. In the same way, Quantum Mechanics is
      the best explanation of the facts concerning elementary particles
      and energy, etc. Gravity is a fact for which a good explanation
      has not yet been found. In no way is evolution a "fact," but
      maybe my point would be better suited for talk.philosopy."

There are a great many knowledgeable scientists who agree that evolution is
a fact. I have not been able to find a single expert on evolutionary biology
who claims otherwise when referring to the existence of evolution. Stephen
J. Gould explains it like this,

     "Well, evolution is a theory. It is also a fact. And facts and
      theories are two different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of
      increasing certainty. Facts are the world's data. Theories are
      structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts...Moreover,
      'fact' doesn't mean 'absolute certainty'; there ain't no such
      animal in an exciting and complex world...In science 'fact' can
      only mean 'confirmed to such a degree that it would be perverse
      to withhold provisional consent'. Evolutionists have been clear
      about this distinction from the beginning, if only because we
      have always acknowledged how far we are from completely
      understanding the mechanisms (theory) by which evolution (fact)
      occurred."
      Stephen J. Gould, Evolution As Fact and Theory, DISCOVER. May 1981

One of the best introductory books on evolution is that by Douglas J. Futuyma
and he makes the following comment,

     "The theory of evolution is a body of interconnected statements
      about natural selection and the other processes that are thought
      to cause evolution, just as the atomic theory of chemistry and
      Newtonian theory of mechanics are bodies of statements that describe
      causes of chemical and mechanical phenomena. In contrast, the
      statement that organisms have descended with modifications from
      commmon ancestors - the historical reality of evolution - is not
      a theory. It is a fact, as fully as the fact of the earth's
      revolution about the sun. Like the heliocentric solar system,
      evolution began as a hypothesis, and achieved 'facthood' as the
      evidence in its favor became so strong that no knowledgeable
      and unbiased person could deny its reality."
    Douglas J. Futuyma, EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY 2nd ed., 1989,
    Sinauer Associates, p.15

The same idea can be found in most introductory biology textbooks. For
example,

     "Today, nearly all biologists acknowledge that evolution is a fact.
      The term THEORY is no longer appropriate except when referring to
      the various models that attempt to explain HOW life evolves...
      It is important to understand that the current questions about
      how life evolves in no way implies any disagreement over the fact
      of evolution."
   Neil A. Campbell, BIOLOGY 2nd ed., 1990, Benjamin/Cummings, p.434

In summary, it is quite appropriate to say that evolution is a FACT but
that there are various THEORIES or HYPOTHESES to explain the MECHANSIM of
evolution. Creationists tend to focus their attention on the THEORY of
evolution and ignore the FACT of evolution.

-Larry Moran
Dept. of Biochemistry