Greetings all,
Hey, Nick, why do you think it's called the "THEORY" of evolution?
Sadly,
it is all too common for people to confuse the two meanings of the word "theory".
In popular terms, it means a guess, or speculation. This meaning can also be used in scientific circles of course - such as "tectonic plate theory", which has now been confirmed. But it has not graduated to the "law of tectonic plates". That is simply NOT how it works. Sadly, many people still repeat this false idea that a "hypothesis" becomes a "theory", then graduates to a "law".
For example - gravity was never a hypothesis, gravity never graduated from a theory to a law - that is simply NOT TRUE.
Gravity is a fact, we observe it's effects. And, gravitational theory describes how gravity works. See here for an example use of the term "gravitational theory" :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity#History_of_gravitational_theory
Of course, in Darwin's time, evolution was a "theory" (meaning speculation.) But it has since been confirmed by every experiment, test, and observation ever done. But it has never been contradicted by ONE single observation.
For this reason, evolution is now considered certain. It is as "proven" as things ever are in science.
But,
in scientific terms, there is another, different, meaning to the word "theory" - it means an EXPLANATION (and/or a model) of how it works, (and allows predictions to be made.)
The Theory of Evolution is NOT "speculation about evolution" - that is NOT what the phrase means at all.
Rather -
the Theory of Evolution is the EXPLANATION for how evolution works, it models the behaviour of the FACTS of evolution.
Just as Electromagnetic Theory is the explanation or model of how electricity works.
Would one say "electricity is just a theory" ?
Of course not.
And Gravitational Theory is the explanation or model of how gravity works.
Would one say "gravity is just a theory" ?
Of course not.
And Music Theory is the explanation for how music works.
Would one say "music is just a theory" ?
Of course not.
Yet
some people say
"evolution is (just) a theory"
as if it means
"evolution is merely speculation" (false)
when it really only means
"evolution is an explanation, or model" (true)
Evolution is a FACT.
We observe evolution.
And,
the Theory of Evolution is the EXPLANATION, or model, for the observed facts of evolution.
The use of the word "theory" here does NOT mean it is unproven.
Any more than the term "gravitational theory" means gravity has not been proved.
Evolution is probably the single most solidly supported theory of all time. Nothing in biology makes sense without evolution.
Iasion