ABSTRACT
A t the center of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection is the concept of adaptation. Evolution is the name we give to the process of bio logical change through time. Natural selection is a mechanism that can drive such change. But i t is not the only such mechanism. Random events from the molecular to the planetary level can also be mechanisms of bio logical change. Natural selection, however, remains the only scientific the ory of adaptation, the demonstrable " f i t " between an organism and the challenges of its specific environment. In Darwinian terms, evolution is the process, natural selection is the mechanism, and adaptation is the result. But organisms do not display adaptations i n the abstract; they display adaptations to specific conditions. The study of Darwinian evolution thus necessarily involves the study of ecology, the relationship of organism to environment. I t is i n that relationship that the power of natural selection becomes discernible and a manifest object of inquiry.
