ABSTRACT
Evolutionary biologists use the term "evolution" with a narrower meaning. Genes are important in the evolutionary process. But the gent frequency in a population is only one mathematical description of that population. The mistake in the definition of evolution as change in gene frequency comes from thinking that this single mathematical description always reflects whether an evolutionary change has taken place. The genetic system itself is a product of evolution. Hence, an evolutionary process was underway before genes even existed. Theodosius Dobzhansky said that "nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution." Evolutionary theory is related to the rest of biology the way the study of history is related too much of the social sciences. Evolutionary theory traces back to Charles Darwin. Population geneticists work out the consequence laws of evolution. One of the most controversial matters in evolutionary theory concerns the importance of natural selection as a cause of evolution.
