>Why did Carl Sagan say "Evolution is a fact, not a theory." Was he ignorant
>of something so basic? A liar? Or, IMO, just being honest about his
>(religous) beliefs?
he was talking to you guys. In Alabama they have a law (prassed under
pressure from creationists) that every high school biology textbook has to
say "Evolution must be taught as a theory." This makes all the
eviloutionists laugh because it's the Theory of Evolution that ties
together all of our knowledge of biology and makes all those facts make
sense. They are delighted to comply. The Alabama creationists, like you
do, believe that the word "theory" means "wild guess" to a scientist.
>Why does my biology book and my dictionary say say ameba-to-man is a theory
>but the talk.origins archive article on evolution being both a fact and a
>theory sayd ameba-to-man is a fact? Do facts=data?
it is my understanding that "facts" is a synonym for "data." It is a fact
that in the very oldest rocks we only find fossils of single-celled
creatures. As you examine rocks of younger and younger age you see fossils
of more complex creatures. As the rocks get younger you see creatures that
resemble humans in broad outline. Younger still, and the fossils begin to
resemble us in a bit more detail, etc. and so on. Those are all facts.
Organisms change through time. That organisms change through time was
obvious to natural historians long before Darwin was born. The system that
explains what you are looking at when you see that change and *why* those
early animals change gradually through time is called "The Theory of
Evolution."
Clear as mud?
Susan, Twit Extraordinaire
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Life is short, but it's also very wide.
http://www.telepath.com/susanb/