pete... believe it not, the thread is about scientific misconceptions... not evolution per se... that's your hangup and one that seems to be immune to logic. scientific method applies to ALL sciences... it's what makes them sciences and not exercises in fantasy or speculation.

and the reason I may speak like a scientist is because I am trained in the sciences and work in the environmental field that relies heavily on science and technology.

as for your obsession with pond scum... since life evolved eons ago and plate techtonics have shaped and reshaped the planet's surface any number of times, there is limited evidence left. therefore, we have to use indirect means to figure things out. this is a slow process and full of gaps in our knowledge... but... and it's a big but.... just because I don't know the names or location of my many times removed ancestors of a thousand years ago, does not mean they didn't exist. it only means that that information has been lost.

genetic material is the key to the transmission of traits from one generation to the next and that key to understanding evolution. it happened - get over it