"Theory" has a special meaning, notes molecular biologist Maxine Singer, president of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, in an Aug. 16 column in the Washington Post. "A theory in science is not a hunch or 'just a theory' as some say. It is an explanation built on multitudinous confirmed facts and the absence of incompatible facts." Omitting evolution from biology, Singer pointed out, "is comparable to leaving the U.S. Constitution out of civics lessons. Evolution is the framework that makes sense of the whole natural world..." Can science conquer Kansas?
Evolution Is Just a Theory! (Or Is It?)
Anyone who has spent some time reading or debating creationists is almost certain to hear the argument that "evolution is just a theory". This is usually stated as if it were a blow against evolution, but in reality, nothing could be further from the truth. Though this statement is technically correct - evolution is indeed a theory - people who do not understand the implications of that word as it is used in science often think it is saying something different from what it actually means. - More
This is such a common complaint about evolution that it deserves a page of it's own. This comment is born out of misuse of the word theory. People who make statements like: "But it's only a theory; it's not a scientific law," or "It's a theory, not a fact," don't really know the meanings of the words their using.
Theory does not mean guess, or hunch, or hypothesis. A theory does not change into a scientific law with the accumulation of new or better evidence. A theory will always be a theory, a law will always be a law. A theory will never become a law, and a law never was a theory.
The following definitions, based on information from the National Academy of Sciences, should help anyone understand why evolution is not "just a theory." - More
See Also Talk Origins - Evolution is a Fact and a Theory
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