There has been much attention in the media about the teaching of the theory of evolution. While serving as dean of the University of Utah’s College of Mines and Mineral Industries, I had interesting discussions with fellow faculty members in the departments of geology, geography, and geophysics about the theory of evolution and the misunderstanding many people have about the scientific method.  In the process of discovering scientific truths, it is essential to develop theories that relate experimental observations to each other and suggest additional tests to determine the validity of those theories or to modify them, which is generally the case.  Competent scientists recognize that theories are not laws but serve the function of testing ideas and pursuing new relationships. Elder John A. Widtsoe observed: “Facts never change, but the inferences from them are changeable. … The careful man does not become so enamored of an hypothesis or a theory that he cannot distinguish it from a fact. … Theories of science can no more overthrow the facts of religion than the facts of science. … One cannot build a faith upon the theory of evolution, for this theory is of no higher order than any other inference, and is therefore in a state of constant change.” (In Search of Truth: Comments on the Gospel and Modern Thought, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1930, pp. 41, 46, 110.)  The theory of evolution as presently taught posits that higher forms of life arose gradually from lower stages of living matter. Inheritable genetic changes in offspring are assumed to be spontaneous rather than the result of arranged or directed forces external to the system. -George R. Hill III, “Seek Ye Diligently,” Ensign, June 1993, 21