Charles Darwin

            Charles Darwin was born on 12 February 1809 in Shrewsbury, Shropshire.  He was born in to a predominately wealthy lifestyle. He initially planned to follow a medical career, and studied at Edinburgh University but later switched to divinity at Cambridge.   When Darwin was twenty-two he went on a five year scientific expedition on the HMS Beagle.  During this expedition he made the discovery of natural selection, this is what gave him his claim to fame.

            Most Europeans thought that earth was created by god and he created man and all other animals, but Darwin challenged that idea and created a huge controversy.  While in the Galapagos Islands, Darwin noticed that every finch had its own special characteristics.

            I chose Charles Darwin as the person for my power of one project because I believe that he helped show the world that we were not created by some higher power but by evolution.  He helped expand the minds of people around the world.

            Darwin lived during the 19^th century and people’s minds were not as open as they are now.  When Darwin published the book The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection many people were appalled and violently attacked his book.  Outside of London, England was very rural and most families did not leave their village.   Many families have lived in their villages for generations.  People were a lot more religious during this time and therefore, when Darwin published his book it sparked many controversies.

Important People of History

History is shaped by the deeds of extraordinary men and women; those are the words of Scottish philosopher Thomas Carlyle.  There are many people, from past or present that helped advance not only our technology, but also our literature, and the way we perceive the world.

Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman to receive a M.D. degree.  The only reason that she got into Geneva Medical School (now Hobart & William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York) was because the student body thought her application was a joke from a rival school.  After receiving her medical degree, she had a hard time finding a hospital that would let her practice there, so she created her own infirmary.  After a while she created her own medical school for women so they did not have to go through the struggle that she had to.  What interested me about Ms. Blackwell was her determination.  She did not care about what people thought about her, or how they treated her, all she wanted was to become a fully licensed medical doctor, and she did not let anything get in her way.  I believe that she would be a good person to do the power of one assignment on.  She helped change the medical world with her medical school for women.

Kevin Eggan is one of the leading scientists in the study of stem cell research.  Even though his line of work is very controversial, it is very much needed to help in the fight against cancer and many other diseases.  I am very interested with stem cells and how they can help in the medical field and that is why I chose Mr. Eggan as one of the people in this paper.  I don’t think people would find enough information about him to do the power of one assignment on him.

Harvey Milk was the first openly gay man to get a substantial political job on the planet.  It surprises me that he got to power even though he was gay; it shows the maturity level of the people today has risen.  Even though I think he is a great man for what he did, and went through, I don’t think he would be a good choice for the power of one assignment.  I think this because he didn’t fit into all of the four requirements that the person needed to.