The Scope of Evolution

In reading Karl Giberson's Saving Darwin, which I shall shortly review in full, I was struck by the possibilities presented by Evolution as an explanatory mechanism. I've already noted how Evolution is more complex and difficult to integrate with a definition of the scientific method that is rooted in physics, but the question is: how does this complexity manifest itself?

The amazing thing is the explanatory scope of Evolutionary theory. Giberson writes:

The theory of evolution is a vast and complicated network of interlocking explanatory concepts tying together everything from the age of fossil bones to similarities between human and chimp DNA. There is, quite simply, a mountain of evidence from multiple sources supporting evolution. Organized by evolutionary theory, this mountain of evidence becomes a comprehensible and manageable landscape. Without evolutionary theory, it disappears into the clouds, a hidden and impenetrable mystery of unexplained patterns. (Karl Giberson, Saving Darwin, HarperOne, p. 194).

And what are some of these distinct areas and patterns that evolution explains? Giberson suggests at least five important ones:

1. The fossil record
2. Biogeography (the distribution of species around the world)
3. Comparative anatomy (eg. five fingers in mammals -- from the bat to humans)
4. Developmental Similarities (embryology)
5. Comparative biochemistry/physiology (eg. DNA)

Neither Intelligent Design nor Creationism has a mechanism to explain any of these factors.