For the last of his ’10 questions to ask your biology teacher’, Jonathan Wells offers:
EVOLUTION A FACT? Why are we told that Darwin’s theory of evolution is a scientific fact — even though many of its claims are based on misrepresentations of the facts?
Well, first up I’d say that evolution is both fact & theory – there’s a huge body of evidence that shows that evolution has happened (the fact) & there’s also a good scientific explanation for how that evolutionary change came about (the theory).
Secondly – the modern theory of evolution has built on & expanded the mechanism that Darwin published nearly 150 years ago. Molecular biology, Mendelian & population genetics, information from embryology & biogeography & geology – they’ve all added to our understanding of how life’s diversity has evolved. (And nowhere – nowhere – have we seen data that would invalidate evolutionary theory.)
And thirdly – as you would have seen in my previous posts on the rest of Wells’ specious questions – there is nothing to suggest that the theory of evolution is based on misrepresentations of the facts!