Evolution: Theory or Law?
Evolution is a natural law (law/principle). The body of knowledge that explains why and how this natural law works is called the Theory of Evolution.
Contrary to popular usage, the word "theory" in science does not mean "an unproven or unfounded idea". On the contrary, it means a body of knowledge that can explain "why" and "how" the data obtained as a result of long-term, multi-angle, multi-disciplinary observations and investigations are the way they are. In science, a "law" is an observation of a natural phenomenon/phenomenon. It helps us determine "what" something is: for example, "all objects fall to the ground", "all living things differentiate". The first example in the previous sentence simply explains what we know in science as the "law of gravity" and the second simply explains what we know as the "law of evolution". These are laws and they exist as such as long as the structure/texture of our Universe remains unchanged.
However, laws are incapable of providing information, so they are of little value in terms of their "informative power", except as scientific data. What is really valuable in science are the bodies of knowledge that explain "why" and "how" the events and phenomena around us happen the way they do by linking these basic laws and all the other conclusions arising from them. These are called "theories".
For example, there are theories that explain the law of gravity, such as Newton's Theory of Gravitation, Einstein's Theory of Relativity (which has important implications), Quantum Unified Fields Theory. There are also many scientific theories that explain the law of evolution (Dawkins' Selfish Gene Theory, the Red Queen Theory, Gould's Theory of Leapfrog Evolution, Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection and so on); we call these as a whole the Theory of Evolution.
These theories explain why and how the law of evolution, the law of biological change that we see in nature that can be observed over generations, works the way it does. To build these theories, we construct hypotheses based on laws; we question the relationships between seemingly interrelated events and phenomena that we see around us. Every argument that is put forward in this process of questioning, that is waiting to be tested, that is in line with scientific thinking, is a "hypothesis". The name means "pre-thesis" and is used in the construction, modification, development and falsification of theories.
Therefore, no hypothesis becomes a theory when it is proven, and no theory becomes a law when it is further proven. First, the repetitive events and phenomena around us, i.e. laws, are identified. Hypotheses are formed by questioning the interrelationships of these laws, and explanations are developed to explain these laws by establishing links between those hypotheses that are confirmed (or that pass repeated tests successfully each time), and these become theories. These theories are put to the test of time and science, and in the process they evolve.
If a hierarchy is to be established, theories are superior to laws in many respects such as explanatory power, scope, content and testability. So much so that some sources describe laws as a "short and narrow summary" of theories. However, we do not talk about such a hierarchy in modern science, because there is no need for it.
Source:
S. F. Mason. (1963). A History Of The Sciences.
D. J. Futuyma, et al. Evolution, Science, And Society: Evolutionary Biology And The National Research Agenda. ( https://www.ugr.es/~jmgreyes/Evolwhite.pdf )
F. J. Ayala, et al. Science, Evolution, And Creationism. ( https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/11876/science-evolution-and-creationism )
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