The Making of a Scientist | CBSE Class 10 | NCERT Notes by Arihant

Chapter Summary

Richard’s Success at Young Age

Richard HEbright and his college roommate were the first college students to get their article published in the ‘Proceedings of the National Academy of Science’. Richard was only 22 when he and his roommate explained the theory of how cells work. This achievement is one of the many that Richard got in the field of science.

Richard’s Childhood

Richard lived in Pennsylvania, USA and was the only child of his parents. As there was no one to play football or baseball with him, he developed a habit of collecting things such as rocks, fossils and coins. He also took interest in astronomy and loved to gaze the stars all night.

Richard’s Mother : His True Companion

Richard lost his father when he was in third grade so his mother was his only companion. His mother encouraged his interest in learning.

She took him on trips and bought him telescopes, microscopes, cameras, mounting materials and many other equipments. She also supported him in his hobbies and invited his friends to play with him. Even when Richard didn’t have things to do, she found work for him. She supported his driving curiosity, bright mind and his desire to learn. As result, Richard earned top grades in school.

Richard Reads ’The Travels of Monarch X’ Book

Richard was deeply interested in butterflies since his early childhood. When he was in second grade, he had collected all 25 species of butterflies found around his hometown. He had gotten bored of collecting butterflies. But his mother gifted him the book ‘The Travels of Monarch X.’ The book opened up a new world of science for Richard.

Tagging Butterflies for Research

At the end of the book, Richard found an invitation for studying the migration of butterflies. Readers were told to tag butterflies for research by Dr. Frederick A Urquhart of University of Toronto, Canada.

After his mother wrote to Dr. Urquhart, Richard started tagging butterflies. However, soon he started raising them. He caught a female monarch and took her eggs. As the butterflies grew, he tagged their wings and freed them. For many years, this process was continued and his basement was a home to butterflies. Soon, his interest was lost because he did not receive much feedback.

Richard’s Entry in the County Science Fair

Richard was in seventh grade when he got to know, what true science is. At the county science fair, everyone else won awards except him. It was then that he realised that all other had done real experiment while he had just show a neat slide of frog tissues. The failure filled Ebright with competitive spirit.

Richard’s Eighth Grade Project

For his next project, he wrote to Dr. Urquhart for ideas and recieved many suggestions. Soon, Richard achieved his first success. In Richard’s eighth grade project, he had tried to find the cause of a viral disease that kills monarch caterpillars. Richard thought that the disease might be carried by a beetle. He tried raising caterpillars in presence of beetles but he failed. However, he won a prize in the county fair. 

Richard’s Next Project on Viceroy Butterflies

 Richard’s next project was testing the theory that viceroy butterflies copy monarch butterflies. Viceroys butterflies do so to protect themselves from birds as birds don’t like to eat monarchs while they like to eat Viceroys. He found that a bird Starling would only eat monarch butterflies and not ordinary bird food. That project was placed first in the zoology division and third in overall county science fair.

Richard’s Discovery of a Hormone

In his second year of high school, Richard discovered an unknown insect hormone which also led to his new theory on the cell life. The purpose of the original project was to know the reason behind the twelve tiny gold spots on monarch’s pupa.

Richard along with another science student built a device which showed that the spots were producing a hormone necessary for the butterfly’s full development. That project won Richard first place in county science fair and entry into the International Science and Engineering Fair. There he won third place for zoology and also got a chance to work at the entomology laboratory of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.

Richard Continues his Research on Monarch Pupa

As a high school junior, Richard continued his advanced research on the monarch’s pupa. He won first prize at International Science Fair that year. In his senior year, he grew cells from monarch’s wing in a culture. He showed that the cells would develop into normal butterfly wings scales only when they were fed the hormones produced by the gold spots. This experiment got him first prize in zoology at the international fair. Throughout, he continued working in the army laboratory and he also got a chance to work at the laboratory of US department of agriculture.

Richard’s Study of Cell and DNA

Richard joined Harvard University where he continued his research on the gold sports. There using the advanced technology at department of Agriculture, he could identify the hormone’s chemical structure.

In his junior years he got the idea of his new theory about cell life while looking at the X-ray photos of chemical structure of a hormone. He believed that his study could tell how the cell can read the blueprint of its DNA. Richard and his college room-mate James R. Wong worked all night constructing the plastic models of molecules showing how it could happen. Later, they together wrote a paper explaining their theory.

Highest Honours in Harvard

Richard graduated with second position in a class of 1510 students. He became a graduate student researcher at Harvard Medical School where he started experimenting to prove his new theory. If his theory is correct it can lead to new ways of preventing some types of cancer and other diseases.

Richard: An all Rounder

Richard was not just a scientist. He was an all rounder. He was a champion debator and a public speaker. He was also a good canoeist and an outdoor person. He was also a great photographer.

In his high school, he was a part of the Debating and the Model United Nations Clubs. There, he found Richard A Weiherer, his social studies professor and advisor to both clubs, whom he admired a lot.

Richard : A True Scientist

Mr. Weiherer praised Richard for his hard work. He also praised Richard’s healthy competitiveness which was just for the sake of doing his best. Richard had all the qualities that made him a true scientist. He had a first rate mind, curiosity and a will to win for all the right reasons.

Reference – @Arihant