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Quotes by scientists about evolution

Evolution generally refers to any process of change over time. However, in the context of the life sciences, evolution is a change in the genetic makeup of a group—a population of interbreeding individuals within a species. Such a population shares a gene pool and members exhibit a degree of genetic relatedness. Since the emergence of modern genetics in the 1940s, evolution was defined more specifically as a change in the frequency of alleles from one generation to the next. Evolution's two-stage process involves, first, the production and redistribution of genetic variation (see Differential survival of traits); and, second, natural selection acting on this variation.

The word "evolution" is often used as a shorthand for the modern theory of evolution of species based upon Darwin's theory of natural selection. This theory states that all species today are the result of an extensive process of evolution that began several billion years ago with simple single-celledorganisms, and that evolution via natural selection accounts for the great diversity of life, extinct and extant.

As the theory of evolution has become almost universally accepted in the scientific community, it has repeatedly been suggested that it provides an explanation as to the origin of life as well as its diversity. However these are two separate issues, and while the theory of evolution is widely accepted, the question of the origin of life remains controversial.
(from www.wikipedia.org)