Florida Citizens for Science has produced a four-page fact sheet that dissects several common misconceptions and outright fallacies concerning evolution and science education.
One of the major misconceptions that has been seen repeatedly in the discussion concerning Florida's revised science standards is the notion that "evolution is just a theory, not a fact."
Here is how the fact sheet addresses this all-too-common misconception:
Is evolution theory or fact?
There is quite a bit of confusion in the public concerning the combination of the terms theory and fact when discussing evolution. The simple explanation is that there are an abundance of facts showing how life on Earth has changed over vast stretches of time. A scientific theory then seeks to explain how those facts interact and fit together to form an overall picture. So, a scientific theory is not a fact itself, but rather is a carefully reasoned explanation for what a related set of facts tells us about our world and how it works.
There is quite a bit of confusion in the public concerning the combination of the terms theory and fact when discussing evolution. The simple explanation is that there are an abundance of facts showing how life on Earth has changed over vast stretches of time. A scientific theory then seeks to explain how those facts interact and fit together to form an overall picture. So, a scientific theory is not a fact itself, but rather is a carefully reasoned explanation for what a related set of facts tells us about our world and how it works.
The fact sheet goes on to recommend Stephen Jay Gould's excellent essay entitled "Evolution as Fact and Theory" for further reading.
posted by Jeremy Mohn
