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Letter writer needs education

To the editor,

In his February 7 letter to the editor Matt Scofield criticizes Sheila Bapat's column on evolutionary theory by suggesting that she has missed out on a "quality science education." However, it is made clear in his letter that he is the one whose knowledge of science is lacking, not Sheila Bapat.

When Scofield says "evolution hasn't been disproved or proved, which is why it is a theory." he demonstrates ignorance of both the extensive evidence in support of evolution and the meaning of the word "theory." In common usage "theory" may be the equivalent of an unproved guess, but in science "theory" designates the highest level of certainty that we can have about an idea. To say that something is "only" a theory shows a total lack of understanding of the term. Why isn't he upset that we don't teach alternatives to gravity, since gravity is also "only" a theory?

As to the claim that evolution has been neither proved nor disproved, if Mr. Scofield would take the time to educate himself he would find that there is as much support for evolutionary theory as there is for plate tectonics or the heliocentric model of the solar system, and that is why it is a theory.

Jason Erickson

Geophysics graduate student