Indeed, evolution is basically trial and error, where the trial is life, and the error is (untimely) death.
I'd argue that it's not science at all, because what's missing is the coordination behind it. To me, evolution is not a product of conscious effort, but an emergent behavior or the individuals and systems that participate.
Taking the "science" definition from Wikipedia: "Science is a rigorous, systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the world". With evolution, testing definitely happens, but it's not a systematic endeavor, or at least I'm not convinced that it is.
I'd argue that it's not science at all, because what's missing is the coordination behind it. To me, evolution is not a product of conscious effort, but an emergent behavior or the individuals and systems that participate.
Taking the "science" definition from Wikipedia: "Science is a rigorous, systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the world". With evolution, testing definitely happens, but it's not a systematic endeavor, or at least I'm not convinced that it is.