It is a theory because it is a comprehensive, well-supported model explaining a well-defined set of independently verifiable observations in an independently verifiable and falsifiable manner.
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Technically it can't be proven, but remember gravity is still considered a theory in the world of physics.
Because the word "theory" doesn't mean the same thing in science as it does in general public. In science, theory is the strongest and the most rigid idea that is backed by mountain of evidence, facts, repeated experiments, and various laws/hypotheses. Things like the theory of evolution or the theory of tectonic plate are known to be the best explanation that science has to give. There is no such thing as a provable theory, so being a theory is the highest caliber of scientific idea. All theories can be completely rejected, but none can be fully accepted and proven. Those that have not been rejected have withstood the test of time to be the best explanation out there.
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Because in this case especially ( but in all cases generally ) the theory of evolution by natural selection explains the fact of evolution by being a comprehensive explanation supported by many lines of converging evidence.
It is considered a theory because it is substantiated by evidence. In the scientific sense, a theory is a proposition that is supported by evidence, either direct or indirect. With out some of observable evidence, it is only a hypothesis. Theories CAN be changed or proven false as new information is learned or as the INTERPRETATION of information is changed. Evolutionary theory can be said to be true, as the theory itself has evolved over time! :)
It is referred to as a theory because there is evidence to support it, but not enough to bring about scientific consensus.
B. It is backed up by scientific evidence. Apex
The Neutral Theory of Molecular Evolution was created in 1983.
The theory of evolution by natural selection. Charles Darwin. A+
I don't exactly know why evolutionists refer to it as a theory, but I do know this. A theory is an explanation or model based on observation, experimentation, and reasoning. According to the definition of a theory, evolution is not a theory. Evolution cannot be based on observation. No one was here to observe it. So evolution should be classified as a hypothesis not a theory. It is only a guess as to how things came about.
Answer 1A theory. Just as E=Mc2 is the theory of relativity.Answer 2Evolution is both a fact and a theory, although the fact and the theory of evolution are - at least in my book - two different things:The fact of evolution is the observation that lifeforms evolve over time.The theory of evolution is the model that explains how they evolve, and how that applies to our findings in genetics and palaeontology. The theory of evolution incorporates a number of well-tested hypotheses, laws, and facts.
Random processes are not part of the theory of evolution by natural selection.