Darwin's theory of evolution and natural selection?

The short answer is evolution is driven by natural selection. An individural that has traits that help it to adapt has a better chance of reproducing.The traits then have a good chance of being inherited by the offspring. Over time, traits spread among the species. Darwin noticed it in the beaks of finches. Those with beaks that could crack more variates of seeds, had a better chance of survival. The fundamentalist creationism claims evolution doesn't exist. It states that a supernatural being created all the plants and animals just as they appear today. In fact the date this happened was 23 Oct 4004 BC. Other creationist theories (yes, there are a number) include evolution and natural selection as part of the theory. Evolutionary Explanation (That's the correct meaning of "theory") has been around for 150 years and no basic tenet of it has been disproven. There's no "missing link" and no "Suddenly a miracle happens" required to explain things.

?????? We can't possibly explain everything here. There are many books on the topic, and here are some websites. http://evolution.berkeley.edu/ http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibits/index.php http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9953-instant-expert-evolution.html http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13620-evolution-24-myths-and-misconceptions.html Yes, it precludes the idea that a being made each species. The basic idea is that individuals vary; in general, overall, those best suited to their environment's survive long enough to reproduce; the lest fit die.

Darwin's theory is a scientific theory, it precludes creationism as much as it precludes Harry Potter. That's what creationism really is, a bed time story.

Start here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Darwin

Evolution is change in the inherited traits of a population of organisms from one generation to the next. These changes are caused by a combination of three main processes: variation, reproduction, and selection. Genes that are passed on to an organism's offspring produce the inherited traits that are the basis of evolution. Natural selection is a process causing heritable traits that are helpful for survival and reproduction to become more common in a population, and harmful traits to become more rare. This occurs because individuals with advantageous traits are more likely to reproduce, so that more individuals in the next generation inherit these traits.Over many generations, adaptations occur through a combination of successive, small, random changes in traits, and natural selection of those variants best-suited for their environment.

Evolution is change in species over time. Natural selection is the only scientificly recognized theory to explain it. It basically states that animals evolve to better fit their niche or lifestyle because those most fit in their niche tend to be the ones that pass on their genes to their offspring. It doesn't preclude creationism but it does preclude all the traditional religious beliefs that humans or any animals were created in their present form.

Q. What is Darwins theory? Answer: Although of course there are many details and fine points behind the idea of natural selection, the basic idea behind it is beautifully simple. It begins with the observation that children tend to be similar to their parents. From that observation one can state that whatever heritable traits are better at helping organisms to survive and reproduce will tend to become more common in a population, whereas harmful heritable traits will gradually become less and less common. Of course, random changes to heritable traits ("mutations") may also occur, but these too will tend to become or less common depending on whether they are helpful or harmful. Finally, when we consider the immense age of the Earth, this provides enough time for the accumulation of tiny improvements in beneficial heritable traits to produce a great variety of different organisms - in fact all life on Earth. Q. Does it preclude creationism? Answer: Creationism can mean many things to many people: 1. A young Earth. The idea world was created about 6000 years ago -- this was precluded by the geological sciences for at least 100 years prior to Darwin. Darwin's theory in fact depends on the Earth being VERY OLD (which of course all scientific evidence supports) 2. Noah's Flood etc accounting for fossils. -- this was precluded by the geological sciences for at least 100 years prior to Darwin. Not least because you can see in fossil strata the progressive appearance of different forms in subsequent layers, going from more primitive to more advanced, as we approach the recent. 3. God constantly messing with species, etc. Darwin's theory is based on the idea that the same laws apply to the past as to the present. This is known as "uniformitarianism". i.e. we don't need God to be constantly tinkering. Think of an analogy with motion of the planets. We can say where planets used to be, and where they will be in future, and account for their movement, because the laws of gravity and motion are believed to be unchanging over time. We don't need angels to be pushing planets around, or God playing pinball with planets. Likewise, Darwin says there are laws and processes, and they explain evolution and the appearance of various lifeforms, without constant supernatural intervention. Darwin makes this type of creationism is unnecessary, in the same way as Isaac Newton makes angels pushing planets around unnecessary. 4. God set up the universe, and set up the laws that led to life and evolution, at an immense time ago in the past. This is fully compatible with Darwin's theory (Darwin doesn't comment on it, or disallow it either) I believe this is the position adopted by non-fundamentalist Christians (those who don't take 1 of the 2 creation stories in the Bible as the literal truth) -- such as Roman Catholics, and the Anglicans (Church of England).