[em2vn]

"Darwin himself figured out and stated nicely that even the rather impoverished fossil record known in his day was about what one would expect."
That is certainly a convenient way to support one's work.
He said that since there wasn't a solid fossil record to support his work, the fossil record at hand, in his opinion, was what his work indicated one should expect. Therefore, the lack of evidence was proof of a fact. I don't imagine that would pass peer review today.

[VadeRetro]

He said that since there wasn't a solid fossil record to support his work, the fossil record at hand, in his opinion, was what his work indicated one should expect. Therefore, the lack of evidence was proof of a fact. I don't imagine that would pass peer review today.

Wrong. If you don't know what he said, here it is. Chapter 10 - On The Geological Succession of Organic Beings. He didn't say there was no evidence. He said the evidence fits his theory.