frank theriault wrote: > On 6/12/07, Tom C <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> Most respected doctors used leeches to suck peoples blood to cure diseases >> 200 years ago. Most respected astronomers, if not all, did not realize that >> the billions of galaxies out there were not nebulae in our own galaxy, until >> the early part of the 20th century. >> >> For any scientist to call evolution a fact (when the term is used to >> describe the spontaneous generation of life from non-living matter), is >> blatantly unscientific. > > I don't think many scientists call it a fact. I've seen it described > in terms such as: > > -As close to fact as a theory can be. > > -One of the longest-standing scientific theories still existant. > > -An as of yet unrefuted theory, a theory in which all of the evidence > to date merely confirms that it can be relied upon. > > Evolution is not used to describe the spontaneous generation of life. > It's used to describe mutations in DNA code and the subsequent success > or failure of such mutants to survive, replicate and pass on that > code. It explains how life has moved from single-cell organisms to > the huge variance of life on this planet that we see today.
Here is what the "National Center for Science Education" likes: "Evolution is a vital, well-supported, unifying principle of the biological sciences, and the scientific evidence is overwhelmingly in favor of the idea that all living things share a common ancestry. Although there are legitimate debates about the patterns and processes of evolution, there is no serious scientific doubt that evolution occurred or that natural selection is a major mechanism in its occurrence. It is scientifically inappropriate and pedagogically irresponsible for creationist pseudoscience, including but not limited to "intelligent design," to be introduced into the science curricula of our nation's public schools." I like that: "unifying principle" better than a theory. > How life started may (or may not - I don't know) still be > controversial among the scientific community, I like the extra-terrestrial theory: essential bits of life (be it whole bacteria or just the preformed nucleotides or amino acids) fell in comets - including the vital water - from space. The next question being: where did those bits come from? :-) But really, I didn't mean to post to a global warming thread. Dammit! Next I'll post something about religion... ;-) -- Christian http://photography.skofteland.net -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
