Evolution and Science is the umbrella category for articles addressing recent findings in publications with significant implications on the theory. Evolution is a popular natural explanation of life’s origin, unity, and diversity theoretically. According to NASA –
“Life is a self-sustaining chemical system capable of Darwinian evolution.”
Darwin Then and Now explores this understanding of evolution by testing the evidence scientifically.
Evolution
Life is a hierarchy of multilevel interconnected biological systems. The search for scientific evidence of evolution incorporates evidence from the varying fields of biology and evolution. Anatomy and morphology, behavior, embryology, molecular biology, and physiology are the subcategories of biology. Extinction and speciation, the fossil record, the origin of life, and natural selection are the subcategories of evolution.
Science
Like other scientists, biologists apply the scientific method to make observations, pose questions, generate hypotheses, perform experiments, and form conclusions, including falsification testing. Charles Darwin envisioned natural selection acting through “slight, successive” changes. Studies focus on connecting these changes emerging from a common ancestor to scientifically validate the evolution theory. In The Origin of Species, Darwin proposed the following falsification test to validate his theory scientifically –
“By the theory of natural selection, all living species have been connected with the parent-species of each genus, by differences not greater than we see between the natural and domestic varieties of the same species at the present day… So that the number of intermediate and transitional links, between all living and extinct species, must have been inconceivably great. But assuredly, if this theory be true, such have lived upon the Earth.”
Using Darwin’s falsification test, for evolution to be scientifically valid, the evidence must demonstrate throughout the biological system’s descendants a lineage of transitional forms originating from a common ancestor.
Test the Evidence
Science tests the validity of a theory using observable and measurable evidence, repeatedly. The scientific validity of evolution is determined at the intersection of evolution theory and science.
Evidence of common ancestors transforming into new species through adaptive changes over time is a validating requirement.
Life operates on synchronized and integrated networks of diverse systems. Therefore, evidence of simultaneous progressive changes in these systems is required to scientifically validate the theory of evolution. These include the following branches of biology –
- Anatomy and Morphology
- Behavior
- Embryology
- Extinction and Speciation
- Fossil Record
- Molecular Biology
- Origin of Life
- Physiology (Under construction)
The articles in each branch of biology describe the scientific evidence challenging modern understandings of evolution in the author’s own words.
Darwin Then and Now is an educational resource on the intersection of evolution and science and the challenges facing the theory of evolution.
Suggested Reading Sequence
- Glossary defines terms associated with explaining the theory of biological evolution.
- Understanding Evolution is a journey that showcases how different investigative approaches play a pivotal role in enriching our understanding of the process, leading to diverse conclusions.
- Studying Evolution delves into the terms species and natural selection and how they have changed since The Origin of Species was published in 1859.
- What is Science investigates Charles Darwin’s approach to science and how the principles of modern science are used for different investigative purposes.
- The Evolution and Science category features articles studying how the intersection of evolution and science influences the current understanding of evolution.
- The Theory and Consensus category features articles examining how scientific findings are influencing the scientific consensus on the essential tenets of evolution, including Natural Selection.
Continue by reading “Theory and Consensus.”
