Prior to Darwin, biologists and naturalists had observed that evolution was evidently a reality based on overwhelming observed evidence. What Darwin contributed was an argument for the mechanism (or one major mechanism), which he called natural selection. That theory has yet to be disproved, and is highly explanatory of what science observes.
Hawkeye, with genuine respect, “Overwhelming observed evidence” is subjective,
which is why it is still a theory. And while it hasn’t been disproved, it does not mean their conclusions or the theory are facts.
It will always remain a scientific theory. Just like the theory of plate tectonics, or atomic theory. Theory in science means something different than what it means in colloquial speech. Look into it.
"JUST" A THEORY?
Occasionally, scientific ideas (such as biological evolution) are written off with the putdown “it’s just a theory.” This slur is misleading and conflates two separate meanings of the word theory: In common usage, the word theory means just a hunch, but in science, a theory is a powerful explanation for a broad set of observations. To be accepted by the scientific community, a theory (in the scientific sense of the word) must be strongly supported by many different lines of evidence. So biological evolution is a theory: It is a well-supported, widely accepted, and powerful explanation for the diversity of life on Earth. But it is not “just” a theory."
