Evolution of today

The purpose of science is to find a complete explanation, by natural law, of the universe. The man of science must carry his investigation of question that comes before him to the very limit. He knows, of course, that anything like a complete explanation will be forever beyond him. But this must not hinder him from pushing his quest as far as he can into unexplored territory. He must discover all the facts; then he may classify and arrange these facts; finally, he may construct a plausible and tentative explanation, called a working hypothesis. As long as it is recognized that this is merely a hypothesis there is no reason why it should not be thoroughly and completely exploited. Nobody denies that the philosopher may assume anything he pleases provided that he, later on, proves his assumptions. In general, the attitude of science may be said to consist in an attempt to unify all things. And it is this attitude which has led to the discovery of a problem for the solution of which the theory of evolution is put forth. What is the problem? If we look about us in the world, we see a vast variety of living beings, animals and plants. Nobody knows just how many kinds, or species, of animals and plants at present inhabit the earth. More than half a million have been classified and named, but careful search will undoubtedly result in the finding of many more than are at present known. Speaking only of a single order of insects, that to which bees, wasps and ants belong, a former chief of the Division of Entomology of the United States Department of Agriculture gives it as his opinion that 'a day's collecting in Central Park, New York, or in Logan Square, Philadelphia, would result in the capture of a number of species new to science.' A similar statement could probably be made concerning plants. Now all this vast array is of a discontinuous character. Disregarding the lowest forms of living beings, there is no difficulty in saying which is plant and which is animal. There is likewise no particular difficulty in distinguishing between the several members of the animal or the plant kingdoms. The difference between a cat and a dog is not less evident than that which exists between a fern and a maple tree. But neither plants nor animals have always been what and as they are at present. The rocks of the earth hold fossil remains of many plants and animals that have no living representatives. The problem then is to explain the present multiplicity of plant and animal forms. The search for such an explanation has been going on for centuries. Theory after theory has been advanced only to be abandoned for lack of sufficient evidence till, at present, only four possible explanations remain. These are: 1. The eternity of present conditions. 2. Special creation. 3. Catastrophism with repopulation by immigration or by successive creations. 4. Organic evolution. pp. 1-13, *The Ave Maria*, vol. 43 (new series), no. 1, January 4, 1936, pp. 1-4. pp. 13-24, *The Ave Maria*, vol. 43 (new series), no. 2, January 11, 1936, pp. 41-45.