Tyer- Blog 1 Quarter 4

Tyler Monestel

4/5/13

Genre: Biography/Non-Fiction

Pages: 23% (kindle)

Who am I doing?-Charles Darwin was a famous biologist and author from the 19^th century. He was famous for finding the commonly believed laws of natural selection and evolution. He was also famous for finding many new species of fish, reptiles, and birds.

For my biography, I am doing Charles Darwin: Portrait of a Genius. I am about 2/5ths done with the book, and so far it has been so interesting. It first started with his early life and about his parents, how he group up to a very wealthy family, his father being a very successful banker. Then it moves on to his young 20’s and about his famous HMS Beagle voyage. The HMS Beagle is the ship that Charles Darwin took to the Galapagos Islands and where he found many new species such as new lizards and other reptiles.

Whom (3 people from different areas/nations) would I consider to be a great human being? Why

 The first person that I would consider a great human being, is the one I am doing for my project, Charles Darwin. I consider him great because even though at his time the English Church had the most power and would consider any scientist to be crazy, yet he was never reluctant to express his thoughts, even if it got him a bad reputation. The second person is Ernesto "Che" Guevara from Argentina. The reason why I consider him one of the greatest human beings alive is because he, just like Darwin, was not afraid to express his own opinions. He thought that Latin America's presidents and prime ministers were being too "capitalist" and not giving enough to the poorer and middle class citizens. The third and final person I would consider to be great is a man named Oskar Schindler. Very few people have heard of him unless they have seen the historic fiction film, Schindler's List, by Steven Spielberg. I consider him the greatest unsung hero. He was a German business man who, even though be incredibly rich, devoted all of his money in order to stop the Nazis from killing Jewish people. He thought it was unjust that the Nazis were judging a whole race based on stereotypes, and then inhumanely killing them. 

 Are there commonalities in the ways in which great human beings have lived and the choices they have made?

I personally think that a great human being is someone who changed history and society for the good of man kind. All of the people that I listed are great because of these reason. Charles Darwin because he provided much new information on Biology and defied the Christian church. Che Guevara because of how he cared so much about the people of his country and of Latin America, that he was willing to fight for it. Oskar Schindler because he was not afraid to stand up for Jewish people, even though he was considered a traitor. A great person should not be afraid of who they are and what they stand for. Some other people that I didn't mention, but I also consider great: Mahatma Gandhi, Winston Churchill, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Stephen Hawking, and George Washington. The images below (in order from left to right), Charles Darwin, Che Guevara, and Oskar Schindler

 

What are 3 things (aside from what he/she is known for) that would make my top Living History pick a strong entry into the museum?

The first thing that make Charles Darwin great is his determination. He went on a 5 year trip to the Galapagos Islands in south America, and discovered many new species never recorded. The second thing he did was develop many biological and evolutionary laws. Like Newton’s laws of physics, Darwin created laws for biology, that we still use today while studying biology. The third thing he did was he was able to “defy” the Christian church, even though they tried so hard to stop Darwin from doing his work.