Atheistic evolution (also known as dysteleological evolution)is the view referring to biological evolution occurring "apart from any supernatural process." This term has been in use since at least 1906 in The Metaphysical Magazine, and is contrasted with theistic evolution , which asserts that God used evolution to create the universe. Owen Gingerich, a historian of science at Harvard University, has stated that both views are outside the domain of scientific empiricism: "Can mutations be inspired? Here is the ideological watershed, the division between atheistic evolution and theistic evolution; and frankly, it lies beyond the capability of science to prove the matter one way or the other."
In the Southern United States, Gallup found that "49 percent accepted creation, 34 percent believed in theistic evolution, and only 6 percent accepted atheistic evolution." A supporter of atheistic evolution is author Richard Dawkins, and evolutionary biologist and outspoken member of the New Atheism movement. However, atheistic evolution has also received criticism from Francis Collins, a physician-geneticist notable for his leadership of the National Institute of Health and Human Genome Project, who stated "A conclusion which is actually quite comfortable for me as a believer and for me as a scientist [is] that yes, Darwin was right, and a brilliant insight he had, but that all he was really doing was to deduce the mechanism of God's creation.