Is Evolution a Law or a Theory? We are certainly familiar with many theories, ranging from evolutionary to gravitational. But, there are still many who say that the theory is still just a theory. But, what exactly is the theory? Are they just in quotation marks “theory”?
In short, the theory in science and the theory we often use daily are different things. In science, a theory begins with an observation of our surroundings, and then referred to as fact.
For example, we know that the sun is always rising and setting. And usually we, as human beings, always try to find an explanation for why it happened. For example, we suspect that it happens because the sun is always moving around the earth. This preliminary allegation is referred to as a hypothesis.
But the hypothesis that we propose, must be able be tested and re-tested, to find out the truth. For example, our answer was finally tested, and it turned out to be a huge mistake. But from there we found that in fact, our earth turned out to be round, and rotated about its axis. This results to where our observation position always rotated concerning the sun, causing the effect of the sun surrounding us.
Then if there are enough hypotheses that prove to be correct in explaining a phenomenon, and of course have been tested and approved by other researchers, then it is formed… Theoretical Framework. Yes, the journey of a theory to become a theory is long enough.
Strange Phenomenon
For example, since the 19th century, researchers discovered a strange phenomenon. Numerous fossils of marine animals found in the highlands, for example in the Himalayas. How does that happen? Researchers at that time had a hypothesis if it happened because there was once a huge flood that brought marine animals to the highlands.
It does sound plausible, but, further testing turned out to find that it happened because of the continued presence of moving earth slabs. This study also produced a theory of plate tectonics, which explains why marine animal fossils can be found on high land. Then this theory can also explain how our land is now formed, the formation of volcanic mountains to the cause of earthquakes, which are all caused by the movement of the earth’s tectonic plate.
A Clue from Galápagos
And so it happened to Charles Darwin when he was in the Galápagos Islands to observe the diversity of living things. Darwin found that many of the birds on the Galápagos archipelago were the same, but varied across islands. They kind of fit in with the food, on each island. Darwin then learned that it happens because every offspring, every living being, will always have variations in each individual.
Just like we do with our parents, who certainly can’t be the same and always have a little difference. These small differences continue to occur over a very, very long period until such small differences can become significant differences. But, despite these differences, only variation can survive and adapt to environmental change, which will continue to exist and multiply in number. This theory of evolution, then, became the foundation of how living things continue to evolve to the present and the future, creating a diversity of living things that we can meet all over the world. And this theory has also continued to be tested over 150 years ago, in various fields of science.
Correlation of Theory and Law
And of course, there are many other theories. Like, for example, the early theories of our universe, to the theories of how our universe works on the smallest level, which of course has its long journey that can’t be told in this article, one by one. And then in science, besides hypotheses and theories, there’s also a term called law. What’s that? I’ll explain.
In the natural sciences, theory relates to law. We must have heard of the law of gravity formulated by Isaac Newton. Newton’s law of gravity explains that an apple can fall to the ground because of the tensile force between the apple and the earth or called gravity.
Newton’s law also explains that gravity can be calculated by multiplying the mass of the apple and the earth and dividing it by the distance between the two objects. But then, Einstein’s theory can explain how gravity exists, because Newton only made laws that only concerned a mathematical pattern.
However, theory and law are not static final answers but can continue to evolve. But rather, it is the power of science, where we continue to learn from hypotheses that are constantly being tested over time, constantly looking for better answers about our world, so that… We can achieve extraordinary things in this universe.
