Q. How did Ebright’s mother help him?
Ans. Ebright’s mother was a great help to him. She always encouraged his interest in learning and finding more. She took him out on trips. In fact, she also bought him a telescope, a microscope, cameras, mounting materials and other equipments that helped him in many ways.
Q. How did a book become a turning point in Richard Ebright’s life?
Ans. The book “The Travel of Monarch X” became a turning point in Richard Ebright’s life. It told him how Monarch butterflies migrated to central America and new world of science was opened before him.
Q. How did Richard’s mother help him to become a scientist?
Ans. Richard’s mother was a vigilant parent who keenly observed her child, identified his interests and inclinations and channelized his energies in the right direction. She very deftly kept him occupied with learning activities which was a constructive use of the leisure time. She bought him books to kindle his curiosity and thus provided the impetus towards scientific interests. She, thereby, played a significant role in ‘The Making of a Scientist’.
Q. What experiments and projects did Ebright undertake?
Ans. Richard Ebright decided to conduct real experiments after he did not win anything in the science exhibition. He tried to find the cause of a viral disease that kills nearly all Monarch caterpillars every few years. After that, he also began his research into the discovery of an unknown insect Monarch.
Q. Why did Richard Ebright raise a flock of butterflies?
Ans. Richard Ebright as a child had developed a keen interest for collecting things like rocks, fossils, coins and butterflies. By the time he reached his second grade, he had collected all the twenty-five species of butterflies found in Pennsylvania. He also started tagging the Monarch’s at the behest of the author Dr. Tredrick A. Urgu Hart.
Q. “But there was one thing I could do–collect things.” What collection did Ebright make? When did he start making the collection?
Ans. When young, Ebright felt he could neither play football nor baseball but there was one thing which he could do and that was collecting things. And then he started collecting things. He had a wonderful assortment of monarch butterflies, fossils, rocks and coins.
Q. What other interests, besides Science, did Richard Ebright pursue? What opinion did Mr. Weiherer, his social studies teacher, have about Ebright?
Ans. Other than Science, Richard Ebright was interested in collecting rocks, coins and fossils and was also interested in star-grazing and astronomy. He was also a good debater, canoeist and expert photographer. Mr. Weiherer felt that Richard not only was interested in his experiments but also kept his mind open for other things and put in that extra effort to attain success.
Q. What are the essential qualities of becoming a scientist according to Ebright’s teacher?
OR
What are the qualities that go into making a scientist.
Ans. According to Ebright’s teacher, the essential qualities of becoming a scientist are to have a first rate mind, and have a lot of curiosity. Along with that, the person should have the zeal to excel for the sake of doing the best job.
Q. Why did Ebright lose interest in tagging butterflies?
Ans. Ebright used to tag butterflies wings and let them go. In fact, the basement of his house was home to thousands of monarch butterflies. He started losing interest in it because it was a tedious job and there wasn’t much feedback.
Q. Who was Richard A. Weiherer? How did he help Richard Ebright?
Ans. Richard A. Weiherer was Richard Ebright’s social studies teacher and adviser to the debating and Model United Nations Club. He helped Ebright a lot by opening his mind to new ideas. He encouraged him and boosted his research.
Q. What were the factors which contributed in making Ebright a scientist?
Ans. Richard Ebright had some innate character traits that are the pre-requisites for the making of a scientist. He had, besides an intelligent mind, the curiosity to seek information, keen observing powers, perseverance, patience as well as self-discipline, which are the basic requirements for any scientific research. And the credit also goes to his mother for recognizing his inclinations and curiosity. She not only encouraged and supported him, but also provided the required stimulus through books and other materials.
