How can natural selection be strong enough to create whole new species, instead of variation within single species?
3. Isn’t evolution just a theory, not a fact? This isn’t really a good question, because it assumes that a theory cannot be a fact. So to answer this question, a few definitions of terms used in science will be necessary first. A law is a general statement about how nature behaves which has been shown to be valid over a wide variety of experimental conditions, while a theory is an explanation of why laws work (Giancoli 1995). Both can predict the results of future experiments; the difference is that theories explain laws. The definition of a “fact” is fuzzier. The (Oxford Dictionary) lists five different definitions. For this argument I assume a definiton of “something known or shown to be true.” It isn’t a scientific term. Theories, laws, or single data could all be considered facts. Evolution is a theory. It explains a wide range of observed phenomena in the fossil record, in the modern morphology of organisms, in the biochemical makeup of those organisms, etc. It is so widely verifi
Related Questions
- Would you agree that scientists disagree about the relative importance of natural selection, sexual selection, chance, species, hibernation, and other factors which all influence evolution?
- How can natural selection be strong enough to create whole new species, instead of variation within single species?
- How can variation im alleles affect natural selections within a species?
