Letters: Scientific theory of evolution is as good as fact

Mr. Wally Johnson ("Neither evolution nor intelligent design can be fully proven") disputes that evolution is science and intelligent design is not science but religion. He repeats common old fallacies; so common and old that there is a book, "The Counter-Creationism Handbook" that debunks these claims and many, many more.

There is no good evidence for intelligent design/creationism despite years of trying and numerous claims; it depends on faith and not observed fact. On the other hand, evolution is a well-accepted scientific theory, as much a fact as any other scientific theory. Numerous scientific fields including botany, geology, paleontology support evolution.

Johnson claims we cannot observe evolution in the laboratory, therefore it is not scientific. Scientists go almost everywhere observing the world, collecting data, and conducting experiments. Scientists look at the information and deduce how life changed over eons. We hear numerous accounts of such expeditions world wide.

A simple example: We cannot observe a redwood tree growing from a seedling or a sprout into an ancient giant; we don't live long enough. We look at the redwood forest, see redwoods of all sizes, note their similarity to other trees, etcetera and conclude that the big old one grew from the itty-bitty ones. We don't believe the big old ones were just created that big and have always been there.

Evolution does proceed by trial and error; some errors are beneficial and survive, other errors aren't and die out. The second law of thermodynamics does not contradict evolution for many reasons and interested people should do some reading on the subject. As to the fossil records, there are numerous "transition fossils"; new ones are discovered frequently; just pay attention to the science news.

Investigate the science for yourself. The library and the Internet are great sources.

John Mertes

Crescent City