Is evolution now officially proven?

Question

If so, how?

Answer 1

Maybe proven isn't the right word, but there is strong evidence for speciation. It is been observed, so we know it happens. You could debate about the mechanism though.

Common ancestry is a different story though. Frankly it is impossible for empirical science to prove the theory of common ancestry. This  would fall under the category of historical science. We can't directly observe it, so it can't be proven in the sense that other theories can. You can still draw support for or against it though from less direct evidence.  

Answer 2

well sure proven to the extent that other great theories have been proven...the evidence is overwhelming and there is NO OTHER theory that explains , predicts, and allows evaluation as intimately as evolution . Biology without evolution is like chemistry without the periodic table.   The young earth creationist whiners would rather ignore the multitude of evidence from geology, molecular biology, paleontology, cosmology, chemistry, molecular physics, bacteriology,

anthropology, etc etc ...and go for a literal interpretation of a book written by men at a time in history when they believed the Earth was flat, the center of the Universe,demons caused disease, and "magic" was real.....facts , hardly...and as recent studies have shown..eye-itness testimony is among the least reliable "evidence"   At the end of the day what one belives is not important...what does the EVIDENCE say?

Answer 3

Depends on your level of proof.  If you require "preponderance of evidence," then we have that.  If you require "beyond a reasonable doubt" then we have that too.

Answer 4

"Officially"; not sure what that means in science, but it has the public endorsement of the US National Academy of Sciences, the (UK-based) Royal Society, and numerous other bodies.  Indeed such official statements are only necessary because of politically or religiously motivated attacks on the scientific consensus.

"Proven"; nothing can be absolutely proven except perhaps in mathematics, but the evidence, as others have said here, is overwhelming.  Have a look at

http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evosite/ev...

or the pandasthumb and talkorigins web sites.

Answer 5

That depends what you mean by "evolution".

"Evolution" just means "change", and as commonly used in biology it can mean two things:

[1] that populations of organisms change in their characteristics over time. This is an observed FACT (see antibiotic resistance in bacteria, pesticide resistance in mosquitoes, the new 'flu virus each year, industrial melanism of the peppered moth, etc.).

Note, however, that this is just an observation - it does not in itself explain how this occurs.

[2] the "Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection", which takes this observation and explains how it happens and what the consequences are for life. This part is a scientific theory and, as such, can NEVER be proved (no scientific theory ever can), but there is so much supporting evidence that it can fairly be described as "proved beyond reasonable doubt".

Answer 6

such an abstract idea that has so much contrast can probably never be absolutely proven.

alot can never be proven, and alot that can not be observed can also not be disproven, but evidence can support probability.

nothing is imposible, only improbable.

the theory of evolution has a high probability of being true; it has so much evidence supporting it that scientist are refering to it as the FACT of evolution.

i presume your asking this because there is alot of anti-evolution c**p out there made by people who want a god, and are looking hard for evidence for it, and there simply isnt any.

what they do it point out gaps in evolution, and say... "hmm its gotta be god". But a hypothesis that solely relys on the ABSENSE of evidence can not be deemed a real hypothesis, since it needs to have evidence... not the absense of it. What they do is say things like "evolution cant explain x so god must be involved" (intellegent design is what the call it).

science is imporving everyday, and things that couldnt be explained before are being explained today, and to look for things that cant be explained at a given moment does not mean god was involved.

edit: read "the god delusion"

also, an uninformed person might read a book on intellegent design and creationism and think that it makes sense to them, but reall scientist who look for actual evidence usualy disprove creationist ideas. For example: Irreducible complexity (an idiotic idea by a r****d) has been disproven

Answer 7

No scientific theory about the physical world is ever proven in the sense that a mathematical statement is proven.

However, there is no theory about the physical universe that has more supporting data than does biological evolution by natural selection.  The evidence comes from many sources including physics, chemistry, astronomy, geology, paleontology, molecular biology and other disciplines.