Evolution Is Not Just A Theory

Throughout history, it has been highly debated on defining evolution as theory or not, but the clearer answer proves evolution is just a theory. To understand why evolution is a theory, the definition of evolution is “the process by which different kinds of living organisms are thought to have developed and diversified from earlier forms during the history of the earth” (Oxford Dictionary, 2017). The theory of evolution was first formulated in Darwin's book "On the Origin of Species" in 1859. The theory simply means that creatures evolved from ancestors naturally over time. In summary, “as random genetic mutations occur within an organism's genetic code, the beneficial mutations are preserved because they aid survival a process known as “natural selection” (Than, 2017).

The development of an individual organism, however, is not considered evolution, as individual organisms do not evolve. Biological evolution may only be slight or substantial, because “it embraces everything from slight changes in the proportions of different forms of a gene within a population, such as the alleles that determine the different human blood types, to the alterations that led from the earliest organisms to dinosaurs, bees, snapdragons, and humans” (Seegert, 17).

Another factor that proves evolution is simply just a theory is another theory, natural selection. Natural selection first popularized and expounded by biologist Charles Darwin, define as “the process whereby organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring” (Oxford Dictionary, 2017) In fact, this is believed to be the main process that contributed to the theory of evolution. Therefore, if natural selection, a term brought to the worldview by the same person, compare and define evolution, evolution is a