Why is evolution considered to be a theory instead of a hypothesis?

Question

Also how does the fossil record support the theory of evolution? Is it simply because we can see how things have adapted by looking at fossils of previous forms of life?

And how does biogeography support it? anatomy? biochemistry?

And how does biogeography support it? anatomy? biochemistry?

And how does biogeography support it? anatomy? biochemistry?

For biogeography, would this be correct...
In general, the biogeographic distribution of species supports evolution. Species are distributed around the globe largely in relation to their relationships to one another.

This is one question on a study guide. Not like I'm writing a freaking essay over it. Plus even with all of the help I have received from this site, I have spent the duration of my weekend on this study guide as well as reading my text. If I worked out every question on here by reading diligently about every detail, I wouldn't get anywhere on my guide by the time I took my test. I just want the guide done, so I can start studying and reading more. SHEEEEESH!!

Answer 1

You're basically asking someone to do all of your research, which I won't do. But if you're interested in understanding the difference between a theory and a hypothesis, this website has one of the best and simplest explanations. http://wilstar.com/theories.htm

The theory of evolution not only says that life evolved, it also includes mechanisms, like mutations, natural selection, and genetic drift, which go a long way towards explaining how life evolved.

Answer 2

An answer to your main/first question- in science, since nothing can be "proven" we have laws and theories. Before either of those though, are hypotheses: these are the smaller, working questions/ideas that guide research. Once a large body of evidence has been gathered through individual studies and investigations (driven by hypotheses), for some issues, larger, overriding, laws/theories can be derived. If the larger idea is mathematic in nature, we call it a law: Law of Thermodynamics, Law of conservation of mass and energy.

A theory, is a law without all the numbers. This includes Einstein's General Theory of Relativity and the Theory of Evolution through Natural Selection (common misnomer: the theory of "evolution" is not correct, what Darwin postulated was the actual mechanism that drives evolution- folks had been observing and writing about evolution since the ancient Greeks- no one has ever doubted that evolution was just a basic fact of the living world).

Therefore, what Darwin did was bring together a large body of investigations and evidence and attempt to explain the natural patterns observed. A hypothesis, theory, or law in science can never be "proven", science only works though the failure to disprove- so far, there has been no credible evidence to disprove the Law of Conservation of Energy nor the Theory of Natural Selection.

Hope that helped.

Answer 3

Come on, you don't expect a textbook as an answer do you?

Evolution
Gravity is a fact, not a theory. Isaac Newton had a theory about gravity. It was pretty correct but not complete and has been improved by Albert Einstein. That's science working.

Combustion is a fact, not a theory. Becher and Stahl had a theory about combustion. Lavoisier had a better one. It was fairly correct but not complete and has been improved. That's science working.

Evolution is a fact, not a theory. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck had a theory about evolution. Charles Darwin had a better one. It was fairly correct but not complete and has been improved. That's science working.

The evidence for evolution covers hundreds of library shelves in publications like Journal of Biology, Journal of Biological Chemistry, Science, Nature, Comptes Rendues, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the USA and hundreds of other journals in English, French, Russian, German, Japanese, Chinese, Italian and Spanish just to name some. These include every geological, biological and medical topic known to humans and are chock-a-block full of facts that support evolution directly or are consistent with it.

The evidence for evolution is also all around us and includes everyday “non-scientific” observations

1. The anatomical arrangements of land mammals are analogous to each other. For instance, horses breathe through their mouths or two nostrils just as humans do, rather than through holes in their sides. Fish, reptiles, birds and mammals have two eyes and one mouth. Lizards, humans and eagles have four limbs, one heart, one set of lungs, one set of digestive organs, one brain, two ears and so on and so forth. These numbers do not vary across very wide differences in environment and immediate heredity.

2. Nearly all land animals (excepting insects, spiders etc) have red blood.

3. Pig insulin has been used to treat human diabetes.

The evidence for creation consists of an old English translation of a 2500 year old book written by people who had never been outside their own country and now thoroughly misinterpreted by a few, mainly American based pastors whose education is mostly in a peculiar form of theology.

The physical evidence cited by creationists such as the bombardier beetle, the Paluxy footprints and a few dozen other phenomena has been thoroughly debunked many times. In some cases the "evidence" has been concocted and at worst is no more than a direct lie. Most of the material they cite as evidence for intelligent design is nothing of the kind and in some cases actually shows that the design is faulty. The human eye is a glaring example.

Some creationists have claimed that there is conspiracy against them and that scientists are hiding the truth. Sheer paranoia and no different in kind from the nonsense promoted by alien abduction ratbags. There are millions of scientists of one kind or another today. If the truth were being hidden by scientists there must be thousands of them in on it. Some must have come out with real testable evidence that the truth is being hidden by now. The only secure conspiracy is a conspiracy of one.

The poor mugs who actually believe the creationists have been warned to ignore counter arguments as the work of Satan. Of course they have. If they saw they were being sold a bill of shoddy goods their financial contributions might peter out.

Answer 4

Because in science, a hypothesis is something someone thought up but does not yet have good evidence to support.

A scientific theory is something with a lot of evidence and fact to back up the theory. There may still be lots of new details to discover in evolution, but the basic fact of evolution is not in question.