The Big Bang Theory Or The Theory Of Biological Evolution

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Register to read the introduction… This is particularly important in concepts that involve past events, which cannot be tested. Take, for example, the Big Bang Theory or the Theory of Biological Evolution as it pertains to the past; both are theories that explain all of the facts so far gathered from the past, but cannot be verified as absolute truth, since we cannot go back to test them. More and more data will be gathered on each to either support or disprove them. The key force for change in a theory is, of course, the scientific method. A scientific law, said Karl Popper, the famous 20th century philosopher, is one that can be proved wrong, like “the sun always rises in the east.” According to Popper, a law of science can never be proved; it can only be used to make a prediction that can be tested, with the possibility of being proved wrong. For example, as the renowned biologist J.B.S. Haldane replied when asked what might disprove evolution, “Fossil rabbits in the pre-Cambrian.” So far that has not happened, and in fact the positive evidence for the “theory” of evolution is extensive, made up of hundreds of thousands of mutually corroborating observations. These come from areas such as geology, paleontology, comparative anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, ethnology, biogeography, embryology, and molecular genetics. Like evolution, most accepted scientific theories have withstood the test of time and falsifiability to …show more content…
Make predictions based on the model. The prediction would be that upon drilling to the bottom of the glacier, a wet material would be found that is not found under other areas of the glacier. 6. Test the predictions in the field by designing an experiment to collect the right type of data to answer the questions. In this case, samples were indeed collected from beneath specific areas of the glacier, a difficult and sometimes dangerous task. Results showed that underlying the fastermoving areas of ice was a wet mud and gravel slurry not found in other areas, perhaps from an old stream bed, that provided lubrication for the ice above it. Using the scientific method can sometimes be complicated for geologists because Earth is their laboratory and it has many variables and is NOT a controlled environment. Controlled experiments (usually carried out in laboratories) are carefully designed to test a specific hypothesis, and they can be repeated. Unfortunately, many hypotheses in geology cannot be directly tested in a controlled experiment (e.g., the origin of the Grand Canyon cannot be discovered by using this approach). Geologists must collect data by mapping or collecting specimens. They must rely on circumstantial evidence, which is subject to interpretation, and therefore can be challenged. The Theory of Plate Tectonics again is an excellent example. Alfred Wegener took some of his own studies and the work of others and realized that the continents on opposite sides of the

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