Evolution is seen as a “hot topic” amongst society, especially in the scientific field. Many perceive evolution to simply be a theory, while others believe that evolution is valid and can be supported by a multitude of scientific evidence. In the height of the 19th century, Charles Darwin proposed his revolutionary theory of evolution. To Darwin, evolution was defined as the consistent change of a species over time in order to better adapt to their environment. After months of vigorous research, Darwin finalized his theory and created the concept of Darwinism. However, as all of his research and knowledge was first hand and only depended on himself as a resource. Due to the lack of concrete evidence that we can visually see, the belief that evolution is not just a theory is largely contradicted, however, we believe that it is not just a theory.

Overall, there are many misconceptions about the theory of evolution. However, the misconception that the theory of evolution is strictly a theory is a significant one. Many are thought to believe that the theory of evolution is strictly a theory because of their religious values. It is also significantly thought that evolution is “just a theory” due to the lack of visual evidence. However, “In science, a theory is not a guess, not a hunch. It's a well-substantiated, well-supported, well-documented explanation for our observations.” (Evolution Is Not Just a Theory) So, although to the average person, evolution is seen simply as an educated guess, to scientists and the science community, evolution is a well developed and well supported theory.

The theory of evolution and Darwinism, overall say that the theory of evolution is not just a theory, but a well researched hypothesis and proven discovery. After an extensive amount of research, Darwin was able to make a well-rounded statement about natural selection and evolution. “Darwin's general theory presumes the development of life from non-life and stresses a purely naturalistic (undirected) "descent with modification".” (A Theory In Crisis) Therefore, we can prove that Darwin’s theory of evolution has an immense amount of support to back it up and is not simply “just a theory”.

However, even though there is existing scientific evidence, there are pieces of evidence that also contradict the theory of evolution. For example, it is hard for one person to truly document evolution has it occurs over an extended period of time. Majority of the time, evolution takes significantly longer than a human lifespan in order to occur. Additionally, religion is also very contradictory of evolution, as many religions believe that a higher power placed all organisms here on earth in their current form and that all organisms have remained the same over time. Therefore, even though substantial scientific evidence exists that supports and proves the theory of evolution, there are also many ideals that contradict it.

From his studies, Charles Darwin was able to create and develop the revolutionary idea of evolution. It is evident, that through his research the idea of natural selection and that all species develop over time is valid and accurate. With these discoveries, we can prove that evolution is not “just a theory” and is a solid scientific discovery. Despite contradicting ideals and values, the theory of evolution has reign true amongst many communities. We thoroughly believe that the theory of evolution is not “just a theory” but is a scientific fact that affects all organisms and alters the way we behave in our environment as well as our ability to survive.