perhaps it might help to define our terms, because they are getting tossed back and forth pretty freely. And over the course of history, folks have used the same terms to mean quite different things.

I'll start with a few basic terms and ideas:

natural history - the study of life, both past and present, along with the environments it is found in

evolution - changes observed/postulated in populations of organisms over the course of time

genetics - the study of self replicating biochemical compounds that are found in lifeforms that regulate how an organism both lives and produces new generations

just like history, evolution is based on observations of historic facts and there is no pre-determination of a final outcome. The history of England did not direct itself so that the present monarch is Elizabeth II, but rather the result of a number of historic events (that could have gone another way) is the historic past that resulted in today's situation.