Every other disipline of science has progressed immeasurable with advances of thought and techniques. When looking at evolution through the eyes of 21st century science, the antiquated19th century idea doesn't stand up.
But the basic idea does stand up and evolutionary theory has changed dramatically as new facts became available. It will continue to do so in the future.
Example:
Darwin basically drew a line with branches coming of it. A tree, always progressing upwards. First there was pond scum, then there were fish, then there were voles, then there were apes, then there were people. (I skipped a few steps, but if you read Descent of Man that's the gist of it)
Modern evolutionary theory does not follow that line. It has pond scum and people, but it also has progressions, regressions, examples of failed species, size adaptations (mini-elephants in an island environment) and so on. It takes into account changing environments and natural disasters. It is no longer a branched line, but an intricate web. All of the evidence so far presented from the fossil record backs up the basic idea...adaptation making some individuals more likely to pass on their genes (and the positive adaptive traits), but the basic idea has evolved into something infinitely more complex.
Milton is pushing intelligent design...the idea that complex organisms cannot develop by accident and therefore there must be an intelligence behind their development.
Evolution does not have complex organisms developing by accident though, it has them developing through selective breeding. Consider how much taller people are today than they were even in the recent past. Some of that can be attributed to nutrition, but there is an evolutionary component as well, and it is affected by social and technological changes. As a species, we tend to be attracted to members of the opposite sex that show good health and an ability to protect and provide for offspring. Height is an indicator, at a very basic level, of those three things.
Now toss in technological changes of the last century or few centuries. Human populations are more easily able to travel, and therefore more likely to find a mate with the attributes they are looking for. More tall people will successfully reproduce than will short people. Socially, it is also more acceptable to marry outside of your own ethnic background, religion, etc. Again that allows more chance to choose a mate with the attributes you are looking for.
There isn't a a series of steps, but the average height keeps rising. Ten thousand years from now, no scientist will be able to say that he found the missing link that led to tall people and has named it 1982 Man. He will be able to look back and say that average heights started rising due to a number of factors...that tall people evolved from short people.
It makes sense