WHAT IS EVOLUTION? The word evolution comes to us from the Latin �evolution� and simply means an unrolling or change. Under this definition there are a great many things which can be labeled evolution: a child growing into an adult, a seed developing into a tree, weather changing from summer to autumn, or day turning into night. These simple illustrations of change are in harmony with the fundamental meaning of the term. This work, however, does not deal with the fundamental definition of evolution. Rather, it deals with a special use of the term sometimes known organic evolution or Darwinism. Evolution in this sense can be defined as: The hypothesis that millions of years ago, lifeless matter acted upon by natural forces, gave origin to minute living organisms, which have since produced all extinct and living plants and animals, including man. This special use of evolution, then, involves more than mere change, for it attempts to explain the origin and development of all life, and that, by purely natural means. It begins with the supposition that life began spontaneously or by accident! 1 It then endeavors to bridge the enormous gaps separating the various species, genera, families, orders, classes, phyla and even kingdoms. Evolution is not a science, and to so classify it is a major mistake. Technically evolution is not even a theory, although this expression is commonly used. According to the scientific method a theory is an inference supported, at least to some degree, by observed facts.2 Evolution, as shall be pointed out in the following chapters, is not so supported. What, then, is its proper classification? The most accurate description of evolution is hypothesis. A hypothesis is a broad assumption based on nothing more than subjective observation. It is an �educated guess.�3 And this is precisely what is involved in the evolutionary concept of life.
