Process Paper

Prior to this project, I was always amazed by the diversity of animals on our planet. My
curiosity led me to different sources of information that explained the reason behind it. I
encountered many books and websites that put it in simple terms and described a process called
evolution. In doing this however, I still lacked a good understanding and needed more
information. As I continued searching, I became aware of a discovery made by a man in the
1800s. His name was Charles Darwin. His ideas bewildered me. Natural selection was such a
simple, obvious concept once grasped, yet I had never thought of it. And so I had been affected
greatly by this discovery, A change in the interpretation of human and animal history all caused
by Darwins discoveries. The NHD Leadership and Legacy project provided me the opportunity
to study and present about a leader who I was personally affected by.
During my research for this project, I had the privilege of many sources at my disposal.
At first, I read and analyzed Charles Darwin: The Concise Story of an Extraordinary Man, a
biography by author and former professor at Ohio State University, Tim M. Berra. In addition to
this book, I used online reference sources such as World Book Advanced Online and Gale Virtual
Reference Library. These secondary sources provided background and current understandings
on the events in Darwins life. This was helpful as I was able to compare and contrast these more
current writings to the primary sources I also analyzed. I came across a website called Darwin
Online, a large source that includes thousands of manuscripts, books, and letters written or
received by Darwin. I used many sources from this website. The personal accounts of Darwin
helped me gained an understanding of his personality. In addition, it helped me greatly to
visualize the way Darwin believed what his discovery meant.
Apart from my interest in Darwins theory, I am also very tech savvy. I have learned how
to do basic programing in HTML, the language used to develop websites. When this project
presented the option to display my work through a website, I was excited to put my skills to the

test. Also, I thought it would be interesting and effective to give the website a look that of
something current to the time of Darwin. This would enhance the experience of my project as it
depicts the time period in which he lived.
Charles Darwin was a suitable topic choice for the theme, Leadership and Legacy. The
ideas presented in his writings gave evidence and an explanation as to how species are related
and how they came to be. This led to a common belief that was accepted by scientist everywhere.
The legacy of Darwin lives on in his ideas of natural selection and evolution. These discoveries
shaped the history of biology, offering diverse ways to solve issues like illnesses, or make
discoveries such as a new species or ones relation to another.