>I'm still pretty sure a mathematical mind on the order of Newton's could find a way to state evolution by variation and natural selection as a theorem rather than a theory, that follows necessarily from the laws of probability and the facts of chemistry
Apart from the chemistry part (where I don't understand what you mean), biology has had this for 85 years, with numerous extensions and generalizations [1].
Worth mentioning that the "Fundamental Theorem of Natural Selection" was proposed by R.A. Fisher who was responsible for developing the following techniques and theorems (among many other things):
- Analysis of variance (ANOVA)
- Maximum likelihood estimation (MLE)
- Fisher's exact test
- The Fisher-Yeats shuffle algorithm
In many ways Fisher exemplifies the author's point about what can happen when someone is both fluent in biology and mathematics!
Apart from the chemistry part (where I don't understand what you mean), biology has had this for 85 years, with numerous extensions and generalizations [1].
[1] http://www.ias.ac.in/jgenet/Vol74Nos1&2/19.pdf