Ch 25The Making of a Scientist

The Making of a Scientist

Author: Robert W. Peterson, an American writer and journalist. This piece is a biographical account of the scientist Richard H. Ebright.

Introduction

"The Making of a Scientist" traces how an ordinary, curious child from Reading, Pennsylvania grew into a brilliant scientist. Richard Ebright's journey — from collecting butterflies as a schoolboy to publishing a new theory on cell life at the age of twenty-two — shows that great scientists are made by curiosity, hard work, an encouraging environment and a bright, competitive mind, not by chance.

Detailed Summary

At the age of twenty-two, Richard H. Ebright, along with his college roommate James R. Wong, published a theory about how cells work in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It was the first time this famous journal had published the work of college students. The theory explained how cells can "read" the blueprint of their DNA — an important step towards understanding how cells work.

Richard grew up in Reading, Pennsylvania. He was the only child, and there was not much to do there, so he took to collecting things — butterflies, rocks, fossils and coins. He was also a star-gazer and an eager astronomer. His mother was his companion; she took him on trips, bought him telescopes, microscopes, cameras and other equipment, and found work for him that helped him learn. After his father died when Richard was in third grade, his mother made him her whole life. She would even give him mental exercises like problems to solve. Richard loved to learn, and by the time he was in the second grade he had collected all twenty-five species of butterflies found around his home town.

His butterfly collecting might have ended there, but his mother got him a children's book called The Travels of Monarch X, written by Dr Frederick A. Urquhart. The book told how monarch butterflies migrate to Central America, and it opened the world of science to Richard. It invited readers to help study butterfly migration by tagging butterflies for research. Richard began tagging monarchs and even raised a flock of butterflies in the basement of his home — catching a female, taking her eggs, and raising the caterpillars through the stages of egg, caterpillar, pupa and adult. He would tag the adult butterflies and let them go. For several years his basement was home to thousands of monarchs.

In the seventh grade, Richard got a hint of what real science is when he entered a county science fair — and lost. His entry, neat slides of frog tissues, won nothing, while the winners had tried real experiments. He realised that to win, he had to do real experiments, not simply make a neat display.

For his eighth-grade project, Richard tried to find the cause of a viral disease that kills nearly all monarch caterpillars every few years. He tried raising caterpillars in the presence of beetles, thinking a beetle might carry the disease. He did not get any real results, but he went ahead and showed his experiment — and won. The next year, his project was testing the theory that viceroy butterflies copy (mimic) monarchs to survive, because birds avoid eating monarchs, which taste bad. This project won first place in the zoology division and third place overall in the county science fair.

In his second year of high school, Richard began the research that led to his discovery about cell life. He wrote to Dr Urquhart for ideas, and the scientist kept him supplied with suggestions for experiments. Richard tried to answer a simple question: what is the purpose of the twelve tiny gold spots on a monarch pupa? Everyone assumed they were just ornamental, but Richard, working with another student, built a device that showed the spots were producing a hormone necessary for the butterfly's full development. The project won first place at the county fair and entry into the International Science and Engineering Fair, where he won third place for zoology. He also got to work during the summer at the entomology laboratory of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.

As a high school junior and senior, Richard continued his advanced experiments on the monarch pupa, and eventually identified the hormone's chemical structure. One day, while looking at X-ray photos of the hormone, he got the brilliant idea that later became his theory of how cells read their DNA. At Harvard, he and his roommate James R. Wong worked all one weekend drawing pictures and constructing plastic models of molecules to explain the theory. Richard graduated from Harvard second in his class of 1,510 and became a graduate student researcher at Harvard Medical School.

Richard Ebright was not just a scientist. He was a champion debater and public speaker, a good canoeist and an expert photographer. He admired his high school social studies teacher, Mr Weiherer, who opened his mind to new ideas and encouraged his other interests. As his teacher said, Richard was competitive, but for the right reasons — he wanted to be the best because he put in the extra effort. Richard Ebright had all the ingredients of a great scientist: a first-rate mind, curiosity, and the will to win for the right reasons.

Themes

• Curiosity is the seed of science: A child's hobby of collecting butterflies grew into world-class research.
• Role of parents and teachers: His mother's encouragement and Mr Weiherer's guidance shaped his growth.
• Learning from failure: Losing the seventh-grade science fair taught Richard the value of real experiments.
• Ingredients of success: A first-rate mind, curiosity, and the will to win for the right reasons make a true scientist.
• All-round development: Science did not stop Richard from being a debater, canoeist and photographer.

Character Sketches

Richard Ebright

Richard Ebright is intelligent, endlessly curious and hardworking. Even as a child he collected butterflies, rocks and fossils and studied the stars. He is a keen learner who takes failure positively — losing a science fair pushed him towards real experimentation. He is competitive, but "for the right reasons": he wants to do his best rather than merely defeat others. He is also a well-rounded personality — a debater, public speaker, canoeist and photographer — proving that a scientist need not be one-dimensional.

Richard's Mother

Richard's mother is the real force behind his success. After her husband's death, she made Richard her whole life. She bought him scientific equipment, took him on trips, set him mental exercises and, most importantly, gifted him the book The Travels of Monarch X, which opened the world of science to him. She encouraged his curiosity instead of dismissing it, showing how a supportive parent can shape a child's future.

Mr Weiherer

Mr Weiherer, Richard's social studies teacher, was his role model. He opened Richard's mind to new ideas and, unlike teachers who confine students to the syllabus, encouraged his interests in debating and public speaking. He recognised Richard's willingness to put in extra effort and admired his healthy competitive spirit.

Important Word Meanings