The Making of a Scientist by Robert W. Peterson provides an inspiring account of Richard H. Ebright, a renowned scientist who revolutionized the field of biochemistry and molecular biology. The narrative details his journey from a curious child collecting butterflies in Pennsylvania to a groundbreaking researcher who discovered how cells read the blueprint of DNA.
Ebright was an only child who grew up in Reading, Pennsylvania. After his father died when Richie was in third grade, his mother became his primary companion and greatest supporter. She encouraged his curiosity by:
By the second grade, Ebright had collected all twenty-five species of butterflies found around his hometown. The book The Travels of Monarch X, which explained how monarch butterflies migrate to Central America, opened the world of science to him. At the end of the book, readers were invited to help study butterfly migrations by tagging them for Dr. Frederick A. Urquhart of the University of Toronto.
Ebright entered a county science fair with slides of frog tissues under a microscope and lost. He realized that real science is not about making a neat display, but about conducting real experiments.
He investigated the cause of a viral disease that kills nearly all monarch caterpillars every few years. Suspecting a beetle might carry the disease, he raised caterpillars in the presence of beetles. Although the results were not definitive, showing that he tried the experiment won him a prize.
Ebright tested the theory that viceroy butterflies copy monarchs to avoid being eaten by birds (since monarchs do not taste good to birds). He discovered that a starling would indeed eat monarchs if available. This project won first place in the zoology division and third overall at the county science fair.
In his second year of high school, Ebright investigated the purpose of the twelve tiny gold spots on a monarch pupa. While others assumed they were merely ornamental, Ebright and another student built a device proving that the spots produced a hormone essential for the butterfly's full development. This project won first place at the county fair and third place at the International Science and Engineering Fair.
During his senior year, Ebright grew cells from a monarch's wing in a culture, proving they would divide and develop into normal scales only if fed the hormone from the gold spots. Later, at Harvard, using sophisticated instruments, he identified the chemical structure of the hormone. Looking at X-ray photos of this structure, he formulated his groundbreaking theory: DNA is the substance in the nucleus of a cell that controls heredity and acts as the blueprint for life.
Richard Ebright was not just a scientist; he was a well-rounded individual with diverse interests: