Furthermore even dedicated recent "evolution" books frequently start with abiogenesis and then transition into other aspects of evolution with no demarcation.
(The fact is that "evolution" can be defined in many different ways from the minimalist "any change in alle frequencies" to possibly also include things such as universal common ancestry, amphibians descending from fish, humans descending from ancient apes, even to the origin of life itself.)
Good point, Hoob'. Perhaps that example is not the best one, eh?The fact remains though that evolution is an idea that is derided by people that don't even know what it is. How many of them can actually describe what natural selection really is? How many still ask, "If we evolved from chimps, why are there still chimps?" The fact that they ask questions that have answers shows that they don't actually understand what it is they don't believe.
I agree that if people are going to make specific arguments against evolution (e.g. "if we evolved from chimps, why are there still chimps?", etc.) that they should first attempt to know what they are talking about (see also this link http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/faq/dont_use.asp).
However, it should also be noted that many (though not all) evolutionists have a poor knowlege about evolution as well. Take for example what you mentioned- that is: "natural selection." Evolutionists commonly defer to what ReMine terms "naive natural selection" in the debate when in reality such a simplistic concept assumes a "uniform fitness incline, with no significant barriers in the terrain" as well as other non-real world factors. He goes on to discuss that what evolution really requires is "inventive natural selection". Though I don't agree with all of his points, I think that his book should be read by everyone who desires more knowlege on the subject (for example he shows why natural selection and population genetics can be treated as distinctly separate bodies of theory and why "The Fundamental Theorem of Natural Selection" was actually misnamed) . For more information see: http://www1.minn.net/~science/contents.htm -(I also know of a source where the book can be purchased less expensively).