Anthropology is a scientific discipline that studies humans and nonhuman primates in all their aspects. It is generally divided into the four subdisciplines of archaeology, biological anthropology, cultural anthropology, and linguistic anthropology.
Critical thinking is the careful, active analysis and evaluation of information.
The scientific method consists of observation, hypothesis formulation, testing, and retesting. Observable, verifiable truths are facts, testable explanations for them are hypotheses, and well-supported hypotheses are theories.
Science is a collaborative process.
Evolution is a fact: Life-forms have changed over the history of this planet. While there is debate about the exact mechanisms of change, there is no doubt that change has occurred.
The last 500 years has seen a shift in explanations of the natural world from exclusively philosophical and religious explanations to a broader, science-based set of explanations. Many individuals have contributed to this change in orientation and new set of understandings.
Evolutionary theory is the product of a collaborative effort, with many scientists contributing pieces to our current understanding. The theory of natural selection was proposed jointly by Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace. Darwin's 1859 publication and his subsequent works have laid the foundation for modern evolutionary perspectives.
Natural selection is the result of existing, heritable variation in organisms and the interaction of these organisms with their environment. Over time, some variants become more common in the population due to differential reproductive success because of a better fit with that environment than other variants.
Many people misunderstood the concepts of evolution and natural selection in the past and continue to do so today.
