In Biology a theory is the highest title you can give to a scientific study. There is more than enough evidence to substantiate that evolution has occurred, does occur, and will continue. Evolution will never obtain the title of Law as that is reserved for mathematical formulas. There is a law of gravity, but there is a theory of gravitation. Because in science gravity and gravitation are slightly different.

The fact that nearly half people think evolution has not been scientifically proven is a proof in itself of how poorly people understand what science is all about. I am inclined to believe that 85% of those who are in favor of evolution know little more than the average high school biology about it. I include myself in that category. As a scientist, I've studied physics not biology. Yet, that little we know make much more sense than any religious alternative. Think about the judeochristian God creating the earth in a seven day creationist marathon or about Brahma starting from a lotus flower or a about the wish list of a native American earth-maker. They are all equal in being legend and myths. Yet, there must be something that people who doubt evolution don't understand and my only answer must be that they simply approach evolution with a close mind, only trying to disproof it. It is too beautiful and simple for the simplest mind not to grasp. So my argument is that if you have not made an honest effort to understand evolution putting aside your religious bias, you cannot have an opinion against it. The mere fact that evolution is taken for granted as truth by every biologists should convince you that science has proven it. Here is a video that give you the basic scientific argument for evolution against creationism: http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=bV4_lVTVa6k. I stand for that argument.

I think it's pretty common knowledge that evolution is a scientific fact, with so much observational evidence to support it that the only reason someone would deny it is either because they didn't understand it, or it went against their specific religious views.

I think the only real thing that could be up for debate is the mechanism through which evolution occurs (natural selection), although even this is pretty much scientific fact.

So I would say yes; evolution has been scientifically and observationally proven.

Science doesn't do "proof". It identifies the theories which best support all available evidence. Then tries it's damnedest to prove those new theories wrong.

Since the theory of evolution manages to be compatible with every scientific observation ever made, not to mention the fact that its principles are used to design vaccines, it has come as close to proof as any scientific theory can. The day evolution is proven wrong is the day I'll go back and check on gravity and atomic theory, too. They're all on equal footing at this point.

Evolution and speciation as a result of natural selection has been proven and observed many times. The only thing really up for debate is the origin of all known current species from one common ancestor.

Evolution is a scientific fact. The change in organisms is absolutely undisputed, and the genetic evidence is even more convincing than the fossil record (as stated by the head of the Human Genome Project, a Christian).

The THEORY of evolution, how this change occurs (e.g., by natural selection), is what is unproven. But evolution itself is an established fact.

The theory of evolution has been proven both scientifically and logically. On a scientific level, evolution has been observed within species by scientists since Darwin's own observation in the Galapagos Islands, where birds' beaks had mutated to help them utilize different souces of food. Even today, signs of the trend in "survival of the fittest" are all around us. African Americans, whose ancestors in the United States were the strongest from Africa, brought to the US as slaves, now dominate the sports industry. The children of the best and brightest Asians who were able to immigrate to the US during the 70s-80s now happen to be many of the most brilliant in schools and universities. Its not a coincidence.

Just thinking about it for a moment, evolution does, at least at first thought, make sense. Being a programmer, I have seen evolution logically proven as I and others use "code evolution" to evolve our programs. This happens by making copies of the programs and altering some just like creatures mutate, and then combining them two by two to symbolize mating. In the end, we usually end up with about a thousand crap programs and a few super-good programs.

Evolution does logically work out, and thus nothing is stopping it from happening in our society. On another note, I would like to clearly point out that just because evolution is a possible process does not mean that life as we know is a result of it. In fact, the Darwinian theory of evolution, which theorizes that life is the result of evolution, is weak because it fails to explain how life originated, instead addressing only how it developed. I believe that to connect the process of evolution with the question of "how we got here" was a huge leap in logic, and, personally, I'm not a Darwinist.

It has been proved as much as such a theory CAN be proved, there is enough evidence going for it that all we are missing is actual observation, which is nigh impossible given the topic.

There's pretty much no way evolution is not true. It's been very well proven and is not just a "theory." Believe what you will, but there's no denying that there is a LOT of evidence towards evolution.

While a lot of things in science can't necessarily be "proven", evolution and other theories have a lot of strong evidence to support them. A scientific theory is not like other theories. Gravity is considered a theory. It can't be proven to be 100% true, but there is clearly enough evidence that support it for it to be taken as truth.

Evolution is in the same boat. There are some undeniable evidence of evolution that exists. We have seen species adapt to the environment and change over time. You can't deny that part of evolution. I wish people would stop assuming that a scientific theory means that its a way that someone thinks and has no real evidence.

Evolution as Described by the Second Law of Thermodynamics

Well we had to ocme form somewhere not juut out of the blue and DNA don't lie when it says our DNA is 98% the same as a slug. That is a shocker I bet. We are more related to slugs then primates if you go by that. And to say a living thing won't change if it's enviorment does is kinda silly since then it could not surivie an we would not be around or life for that matter,life is always adapting and changing,over tme of course.

Whether or not something is scientifically proven or a theory are simply human conventions that we try to apply to the unexplanable. There are too many natural occurences that we as humans will try to explain and simply fail to explain, which is how I believe creationsim was brought about in the first place. People tried to explain the incomprehensible.

Evolution has indeed been scientifically proven. The trick here is to ask ourselves what the constraints of the scientific method is and how that affects our understanding of evolution.

I trust the science that proves evolution, what I don't trust is the derivative opinions on why and how it happens. The how is still a very uncertain subject (due to its complexities) and the why (being a philosophical question, requiring value judgments rather than scientific deduction) is outside of the realm of the scientific method.

That being said, science has a fundamental assumption that influences its outcomes. It is the assumption that it is humanly possible to fully explain nature through analytical study. Whether it can or cannot be done is an entire debate in its own right, but that core assumption is reflected in the conviction that evolution entirely explains the process of life. Which of course it doesn't.

So, the fact that evolution has been scientifically defined, tested and found to be so has very little effect on what we believe the reason and purpose of evolution is. It may be a proven theory, but it is still a very incomplete theory.

Evolution is proven every year in fact. The influenza virus, it evolves every year and needs new vaccines, people aren't given the same flu vaccine every year, it's needed re-tailoring to fit the existing virus.

Same goes with all anti-bacterial medicine, all bacteria is constantly evolving on the lower level, why wouldn't it happen on the higher up level? It just takes longer, it's been seen that evolution existed because different animals are evolved to work better in their environment. Human remains have been found and body structures have changed over the time periods in which they existed.

The fact that this argument nearly has the dissenting side winning is a great testament to how far this site has to go before it becomes a credible place to argue intellectually.