English (Footprints Without Feet) · CBSE Class 10 · Supplementary Reader · Robert W. Peterson (about Richard Ebright) · 25 Quiz
The Making of a Scientist — Summary, Author, Theme & Glossary
About the Author
Robert W. Peterson was an American writer and journalist. This piece is a factual/biographical account of the young American scientist Richard H. Ebright.
Theme
The lesson shows how curiosity, hard work, a first-rate mind and the will to excel for the right reasons combine to make a scientist. It traces how a childhood hobby — collecting butterflies — grew, with the help of a loving mother and a good teacher, into a brilliant scientific career.
Summary
At the age of twenty-two, Richard Ebright and his college room-mate astonished the scientific world with a new theory on how cells work, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science — the first time that journal had printed the work of college students. ‘And it all started with butterflies.’
An only child who grew up near Reading, Pennsylvania, Ebright loved to collect things — butterflies, rocks, fossils, coins — and was a keen star-gazer. He had a driving curiosity, a bright mind and a devoted mother who encouraged his learning, took him on trips, and bought him telescopes, microscopes and other equipment. By the second grade he had collected all twenty-five species of butterflies around his town. His collecting might have ended there, but his mother gave him a book, ‘The Travels of Monarch X’, about the migration of monarch butterflies — and it opened the world of science to him. He began tagging monarchs for Dr Frederick Urquhart and raising them in his basement.
In the seventh grade, Ebright entered a county science fair and lost — he had only displayed frog-tissue slides, while the winners had done real experiments. This taught him that to succeed he must do genuine research. Writing to Dr Urquhart for ideas, he took up a string of prize-winning projects: finding the cause of a viral disease in monarch caterpillars; testing whether viceroy butterflies copy monarchs; and — most importantly — discovering the purpose of the twelve gold spots on a monarch pupa, which produce a hormone vital for the butterfly’s growth. This research led, during his college years at Harvard, to his new theory of how cells read the DNA blueprint. Besides science, Ebright was a champion debater, public speaker, canoeist and photographer. His social-studies teacher, Mr Richard Weiherer, inspired him and opened his mind to new ideas. The ‘ingredients’ in the making of a scientist, the author concludes, are a first-rate mind, curiosity, and the will to win for the right reasons — all of which Ebright possessed.
Glossary
leagues = groups of sports teams; county = a region/district; starling = a European bird and good mimic; entomology = the study of insects; eureka = a cry of joy at a discovery; canoeist = one who paddles a canoe; migrate = to travel from one region to another; hormone = a chemical that controls growth/processes; DNA = the substance in a cell that controls heredity (the ‘blueprint for life’).
NCERT Textbook Solutions (The Making of a Scientist)
RF1-1Read and Find Out: How did a book become a turning point in Richard Ebright’s life?
When Ebright had collected all 25 species of butterflies around his town, his collecting might have ended. But his mother gave him a children’s book, ‘The Travels of Monarch X’, which told how monarch butterflies migrate to Central America. This book opened the world of science to him — it led him to tag butterflies for research and gradually turned his hobby into serious scientific study.
RF1-2How did his mother help him?
His mother encouraged his curiosity and love of learning in every way. She was his companion, took him on trips, and bought him telescopes, microscopes, cameras, mounting materials and other equipment. She found learning activities for him, gave him the book that opened science to him, and wrote to Dr Urquhart so he could begin tagging butterflies. After his father’s death, Richie was ‘her whole life’, and she devoted herself to his growth.
RF2-1Read and Find Out: What lesson does Ebright learn when he does not win anything at a science fair?
In the seventh grade, Ebright entered a county science fair with only slides of frog tissue and lost. He realised that the winners had done real experiments, not merely made a neat display. The lesson he learned was that to succeed — and to do real science — he must carry out genuine experiments, not just show things attractively.
RF2-2What experiments and projects does he then undertake?
Guided by ideas from Dr Urquhart, Ebright took up many projects: (1) trying to find the cause of a viral disease that kills monarch caterpillars (testing a beetle theory); (2) testing whether viceroy butterflies copy monarchs (the starling/bird experiment); and (3) investigating the purpose of the twelve gold spots on a monarch pupa — showing they produce a hormone necessary for the butterfly’s development. He later grew monarch wing cells (which grew only with that hormone), identified the hormone’s chemical structure, and finally developed his new theory of how cells read the DNA blueprint.
RF2-3What are the qualities that go into the making of a scientist?
According to the author, the making of a scientist needs three main ‘ingredients’: a first-rate (bright) mind, boundless curiosity, and the will to win for the right reasons — that is, the desire to do one’s best, not merely to collect prizes. (Added to these are hard work, determination and good guidance.) Ebright possessed all these qualities.
TI-1Think about it: How can one become a scientist, an economist, a historian…? Does it simply involve reading books?
No, one cannot become a scientist (or economist or historian) merely by reading many books. It requires a curious, enquiring mind and, above all, observing, thinking, questioning and doing experiments or research — just as Richard Ebright did. Real learning comes from applying knowledge, investigating problems and testing ideas, not from reading alone.
TI-2Discuss Ebright’s work in the light of what you have studied about cells and DNA. Which field would you like to work on and why?
(Sample) We study that the cell is the basic unit of life and that DNA in its nucleus carries the hereditary information — the ‘blueprint for life’. Ebright’s great contribution was a theory about how a cell ‘reads’ this DNA blueprint, which could help in understanding life processes and even preventing diseases like cancer. If I got such an opportunity, I would like to work in biology/medicine (or any field I find fascinating), because understanding how living things work can help cure diseases and improve human life.
TA-1Talk about it: Answer some children’s questions — (i) What is DNA fingerprinting? (ii) How do honeybees identify their own honeycombs? (iii) Why does rain fall in drops?
(Sample) (i) DNA fingerprinting is a technique that uses a person’s unique DNA pattern to identify individuals; it is used in crime investigation, settling parentage disputes and identifying bodies. (ii) Honeybees recognise their own hive by its particular smell (scent) and by memory of its location, and guard bees check the scent of returning bees. (iii) Rain falls in drops because water’s surface tension pulls small bits of water into rounded droplets; these fall when they grow heavy enough. (Answers may vary; these are the kinds of questions that begin scientific inquiry.)