The Making of a Scientist Class 10 English Notes

‘The Making of a Scientist’ Notes Class 10 English: Through Ebright’s story, Peterson surmises that qualities like curiosity, persistence, dedication and inspiration play a crucial role in making a scientist. The author suggests that one must be perseverant and dedicated towards his/her work as hard-work and perseverance pays off eventually.

Summary: The Making of a Scientist

Broadly, The Making of a Scientist can be divided into:

• Ebright’s Achievement at a Young Age
• Ebright as a Child
• Ebright’s Collection of Butterflies
• Ebright Breeds Butterflies
• Ebright Decides to do Real Experiments
• Ebright’s Theory on Butterflies
• Ebright’s New Theory
• Ebright’s Other Interests
• The Making of A Scientist

Ebright’s Achievement at a Young Age

• Richard H. Ebright, at the age of twenty-two, stunned the scientific community with his innovative theory on cells.
• An article about his theory was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
• For Richard, this success started with butterflies.

Ebright as a Child

• Richard Ebright grew up in Reading, Pennsylvania.
• As an only child, Ebright collected things like rocks, fossils and butterflies to amuse himself.

Ebright’s Collection of Butterflies

• By the second grade, Ebright had collected all twenty-five species of butterflies found in Reading.
• Ebright’s interest in butterflies might have waned after the eighth grade had it not been for the book The Travels of Monarch X his mother gave him.
• The book charted the migration of monarch butterflies from the United States to Central America.
• At the end of the book, readers were invited to study butterflies and tag them for research. Inspired by the book, Ebright decided to tag his own butterflies.

Ebright Breeds Butterflies

• The butterfly season in Reading was only six weeks, making it difficult for Ebright to tag many butterflies.
• So, he decided to breed monarch butterflies in his basement.

Ebright Decides to do Real Experiments

• Then, in the seventh grade – after losing in the county science fair – Ebright learnt that real science was about experiments rather than displays.
• His competitive spirit was kindled, and he wrote to the author of The Travels of Monarch X, – Dr. Urquhart, for ideas.
• In the eighth grade, Ebright tried to show that a species of beetles was responsible for a viral disease afflicting the monarch caterpillar.
• Though his project didn’t yield tangible results, Ebright did win an award for effort.

Ebright’s Theory on Butterflies

• In the ninth grade, he tested the theory of how viceroy butterflies copy monarch butterflies for their survival. This time he achieved success in the county science fair.
• In high school, he thought of a simple question that would have life-changing implications for his career.
• Richard and a fellow science student worked on a device which would provide the answer to this question.
• This project gave him a chance to work at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. It also got him an entry into the International Science and Engineering Fair.
• He continued working on this project which won him the first prize at the International Fair and gave him a chance to work for the U.S. department of Agriculture.

Ebright’s New Theory

• As a next step in the project, Ebright grew cells from the monarch’s wing to expand on his theory.
• Next summer, after completing his first year at Harvard University, Richard went back to the Department of Agriculture.
• He succeeded in identifying the hormone’s chemical structure.
• Following this, he discovered how cells could read their DNA.
• Peterson states that if Richard manages to prove his theory; it will revolutionize the understanding of life and life’s processes.
• While working on expanding this theory with his colleague James R. Wong, Ebright also graduated from Harvard University.

Ebright’s Other Interests

• Ebright, Peterson writes, not only is a gifted scholar but also a debate champion, an all-around sports person and an expert photographer.
• While competitive, Richard also believes in giving the best effort that he could.

The Making of a Scientist

• His scientific curiosity, coupled with an intelligent mind and a will to win, has given Richard every opportunity to become a brilliant scientist.
• Peterson believes this combination makes for an extraordinary scientist.

Theme

The major theme of the chapter is Hard work:

• The author believes that hard work is a continuous process and he brings this idea forth through the character of Ebright.
• Ebright was passionate about his interest and worked hard since a very young age.
• Ebright added many feathers to his hat from collecting twenty-five species of butterflies to conducting research on an unknown hormone in the gold spots of butterflies.
• Ebright’s curiosity helped him hold on to hope and do better, despite his failures.
• Ebright eventually graduated from Harvard University. With continuous efforts to grow, Richard Ebright proved that hard-work and dedication leads to success.

Character Sketch

The chapter provides a brief glimpse into the character of Richard H Ebright:

Notable: Ebright was a brilliant scientist. He is celebrated for his work on cell and reading of DNA.

Curious: Ebright was intrigued by butterflies and he collected them since childhood. He was so fascinated by them that he researched on the cells and DNA of monarch butterflies.

Talented: Ebright was not only is a gifted scholar but also a debate champion, an all-around sports person and an expert photographer.