Chapter 6 Solutions — The Making of a Scientist

For his eighth grade project he tried to find the cause of a viral disease that kills nearly all monarch caterpillars every few years, testing whether it was carried by a beetle.

The next year he tested the theory that viceroy butterflies copy monarchs because monarchs don't taste good to birds.

In high school he began the research that led to his discovery of an unknown insect hormone: he studied the purpose of the twelve tiny gold spots on a monarch pupa, built a device showing they produced a hormone necessary for the butterfly's full development, grew monarch wing cells in a culture, and finally identified the hormone's chemical structure — work that led to his new theory on the life of cells.

Becoming a scientist, economist or historian is not simply a matter of reading many books. Reading gives basic knowledge, but by itself it is not enough.

Richard Ebright's example shows that it also requires observing, thinking, questioning, and doing real experiments. He did not just study butterflies from books — he raised thousands of monarchs, tagged them, and carried out original experiments.

The chapter itself makes the point that winning at a science fair (and real achievement) comes from doing real experiments, not from making a neat display. So one becomes a scientist by combining a first-rate mind and curiosity with active observation, thinking, and experimentation — not by reading alone.

Ebright's work connects directly to what students learn about cells and DNA. He grew cells from a monarch's wing in a culture and showed that they would divide and develop into normal butterfly wing scales only if fed the hormone from the gold spots.

Looking at X-ray photos of a hormone's chemical structure, he arrived at a new theory about how the cell can 'read' the blueprint of its DNA — the substance in the nucleus that controls heredity and determines the form and function of the cell. As the text says, "DNA is the blueprint for life." His theory, if proven, could help understand the processes of life and lead to ways of preventing some types of cancer.

(Model answer for the personal part:) Given such an opportunity, I would like to work in the field of genetics and cell biology, because understanding DNA and cell function could help cure diseases like cancer and improve human health — just as Ebright's curiosity about butterfly pupae led to insights into the fundamentals of life.