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Is evolution science or historiography?

As I understand Science it is something you theoretically can observe by yourself. Someone claims he had observers something under certain conditions and you can make your own experiment.

A historian looks at records of the past and draws its conclusions without the possibility to recreate the historic context and let it happen again. He just can suspect what might have happened at a very high probability.

Eg.: One can Take an Apple and let him fall down and you have evaluated gravity through own experience. But if you find an Apple lying on the ground you can only suspect it fell down, or someone put it there…

Having this in mind is evolution science, historiography, a “scientific theory of history” or something else?

EDIT: the term Evolution in this question was not well defined. Certain kinds of Evolutions can be certainly scientifically observed. But what about this part of evolution that finally gets rid of a need for a god or a higher being to initialize. The part of evolution that explains how time, space and matter evolved and what describes the common ancestor of humans and apple trees.

Answer 1932

Evolution is not just a description of what happened. Evolution makes predictions, which have been verified - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution#Applications

Evolution also has practical applications - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution#Applications

Evolution has been observed in real time - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._coli_long-term_evolution_experiment

Lastly, like any other scientific theory, evolution is falsifiable - http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CA/CA211.html

Answer 1935

Here is a fun experiment you can do at home (if you have a yard) and over several years. All you need is a cat that likes to catch fish, and two fish ponds. Fill them both with black and white gravel, and black and white spotted fish. Cover one with fishnet and leave the other open to the cat. Within a few years, the covered ones will have lost their spots or reduced them, to assist in locating each other for mating (if the pond is big enough). The other will have spots that match more closely the gravel, to hide from the cat.

I have done this one myself, with local birds that eat fish. (I lived near a big pond) But I imagine a cat would be easier to control the existence of.

Answer 1931

Evolution is a factual theory which can be confirmed by experiment. I suggest you read Dawkins' latest book, centered exactly on this fact.


Edited to reflect the following change in the OP

The part of evolution that explains how time, space and matter evolved and what describes the common ancestor of humans and apple trees.

Time, space and matter are explained by physics and not evolution.

The part that explains the evolution of man and apple trees is the same that predicts the evolution of microbes which as I said is observed and that is scientifically explained by genetics, in particular evolutionary genetics which asi I said is observed.


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