Stephen E. Jones

Creation/Evolution Quotes: Science #4-Evolution and science

[Quotes] [Science, #1, #2, #3]

Science #4-Evolution and science:

1. Evolution unique as a science


• "Darwinism is unique among scientific theories"


• "Darwinism straddles the gap between philosophy and science ... in a way no other scientific theory does"


2. Evolution not science?


• "No generalities can be constructed about it"?


• "A specific sequence of unique events, no different from, say, the history of England"


• Darwinism is not necessarily scientific


• "[T]hat scientists have devoted their lives to the study of Darwinism does not ... mean that the theory is ... scientific"

Science #4-Evolution and science:

1. Evolution unique as a science


• "Darwinism is unique among scientific theories"


• "Darwinism straddles the gap between philosophy and science ... in a way no other scientific theory does"



"In this way Darwinism is unique among scientific theories. Because it attempts to explain not only events in the outside world but also man's origins and his place in those events, Darwinism straddles the gap between philosophy and science, between faith and reason, in a way no other scientific theory does. If we were to discover tomorrow that Copernicus was wrong, that the sun actually does go round the earth rather than the reverse, what would happen? Obviously the physicists and astronomers would have headaches trying to reconcile the discovery with their other observations, but would it change your life or mined Would we think of ourselves, or the purpose in our lives, in a different way? Probably not. Not so with Darwinism." (Leith B., "The Descent of Darwin: A Handbook of Doubts about Darwinism," Collins: London, 1982, p.9) [top]

2. Evolution not science?


• "No generalities can be constructed about it"?


• "A specific sequence of unique events, no different from, say, the history of England"



"Popper himself, in "The Poverty of Historicism" singles out evolutionary theory for an attack. "Can there be a law of evolution?" "No, the search for the law of the 'unvarying order' in evolution cannot possibly fall within the scope of scientific method...". By this, Popper means only that the history of living organisms and their transformations on Earth are a specific sequence of unique events, no different from, say, the history of England. Since it is a unique sequence, no generalities can be constructed about it." (Lewontin R.C., "Testing the Theory of Natural Selection," review of Creed R., ed., "Ecological Genetics and Evolution," Blackwell: Oxford, 1971, in Nature, Vol. 236, March 24, 1972, p.181. Ellipses in original). [top]

• Darwinism is not necessarily scientific


• "[T]hat scientists have devoted their lives to the study of Darwinism does not ... mean that the theory is ... scientific"



"Unfortunately, the fact that scientists have devoted their lives to the study of "Darwinism does not automatically mean that the theory is necessarily scientific. The alchemists in the Middle Ages spent their time and energy trying to convert base metals into gold and, of course, failed. We can now see that the theories underlying the alchemists' efforts were fundamentally mistaken, and although they would undoubtedly have considered themselves 'scientists', we would hesitate today to call their experiments scientific." (Leith B., "The Descent of Darwin: A Handbook of Doubts about Darwinism," Collins: London, 1982, pp.26-27) [top]

* Authors with an asterisk against their name are believed not to be evolutionists.