Chapter 6 — The Making of a Scientist

Richard H. Ebright is a young scientist who at age twenty-two published a theory about how cells work in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. He discovered an unknown insect hormone from monarch butterfly pupae and developed insights into cell life that could help prevent cancer and other diseases. His scientific achievements began with a childhood passion for collecting butterflies.

Ebright's scientific interest started with collecting butterflies and other items like rocks, fossils, and coins as a young child. The turning point came when his mother gave him the book "The Travels of Monarch X," which told how monarch butterflies migrate to Central America. This book invited readers to tag butterflies for research by Dr. Frederick A. Urquhart, opening the world of science to Ebright.

Ebright's mother was instrumental in his development. She encouraged his learning interests, bought him telescopes, microscopes, cameras, and other equipment, and took him on trips. After his father died when Ebright was in third grade, she became his companion and made learning her focus. She spent almost every evening at the dining room table with him, finding work and learning activities for him to pursue.

In high school, Ebright investigated the purpose of the twelve tiny gold spots on monarch pupae, which everyone had assumed were merely ornamental. He built a device that showed these spots produce a hormone necessary for the butterfly's full development. He later grew cells from a monarch's wing and showed they would only divide and develop into normal butterfly wing scales if fed the hormone from the gold spots.

In seventh grade, Ebright entered a county science fair with slides of frog tissues viewed under a microscope but did not win. He realized that the winners had tried to do real experiments rather than make neat displays. This taught him that science requires conducting actual experiments, not just displaying observations. He resolved to do a real experiment for the next year's fair.

In eighth grade, Ebright tested whether a beetle carried a viral disease that kills monarch caterpillars. For ninth grade, he tested whether birds would eat monarchs, discovering a starling would eat monarchs but not ordinary bird food (his project on mimicry theory placed first in zoology and third overall in the county fair). In tenth grade, he won first place at the International Science Fair for his work on the gold spots hormone. His senior year project, demonstrating cells need the hormone to develop normally, won first place for zoology at the International Fair.

Dr. Frederick A. Urquhart was a researcher at the University of Toronto, Canada, who studied butterfly migrations. Ebright's mother wrote to him requesting participation in the tagging project. Later, when Ebright sought new experimental ideas in seventh grade, Dr. Urquhart provided a stack of suggestions that kept Ebright busy all through high school and led to prize projects in county and international science fairs.

Richard A. Weiherer was Ebright's high school social studies teacher and adviser to the Debating and Model United Nations clubs. Ebright admired him greatly, saying "Mr. Weiherer was the perfect person for me then. He opened my mind to new ideas." Mr. Weiherer appreciated Ebright's dedication, describing him as someone who gave extra effort and was competitive "but not in a bad sense" — wanting to do the best job and be the best for the right reasons.

According to the chapter, the making of a scientist requires: starting with a first-rate mind, adding curiosity, and mixing in the will to win for the right reasons. The chapter emphasizes that becoming a scientist involves observing, thinking, and doing experiments rather than simply reading many books. Ebright exemplifies these qualities through his scientific curiosity that has never diminished since "The Travels of Monarch X" opened the world of science to him.

During his junior year at Harvard, Ebright saw X-ray photos of the chemical structure of the hormone from monarch pupae spots and developed a new theory about how the cell can 'read' the blueprint of its DNA. DNA is the substance in a cell's nucleus that controls heredity and determines the cell's form and function. Ebright and his college roommate James R. Wong drew pictures and constructed plastic models of molecules to show how this process works, then published their theory.

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