Have read or heard the above headline? “Evolution is not just a theory, it is fact.” Let us examine this statement on grounds of science and not on speculation or opinion. The below flow chart is how a theory is created or found or developed.
Data, and records are facts; not theories. Insight and experiments produce facts. Fossils, bones, and sediment layers are facts. Experiments on how sediments settle produce facts. The argument over evolution is not over the facts. Both sides pretty well agree on the facts. The evolution battle is within the “analysis” box shown in the above flow chart. The evolution analysis presumes that what happens horizontally happens vertically.
Horizontal evolution, or adaptation, is a proven fact. No doubt that animals and plants adapt to their environment. We see the facts, we analysis the information, and we develop a theory. Our theory is something like this: “Animals’ gene pools or DNA change to meet environmental pressure.”
BUT adaptation is not THE evolution taught in science books. Speciation (creating new species) or vertical evolution is what is taught. This is how lizards become birds. Is evolution a theory? This is the evolution that is speculation and violates many laws of science. This is animals’ DNA going outside their gene pool.
The bottom line is that vertical evolution is not a fact. It is a theory based on a faulty analysis. Those who perform this analysis are good people. They just have an error in their logic and we all (including me) do this from time to time.
I hope this helps you answer the question, is evolution a theory.