As I get further into the reading of A Feeling for the Organism, I can see why Barbara McClintock was a great scientist, who was able to uncover things that others could not. One of the things that really stood out to me is that she would always make sure to collect a lot of evidence and data when doing her work, so that no one could object her results. I found this very interesting because with many other scientists, it seems that they find the data that supports there discovery but they do not always find all the evidence and data necessary so that their point is not objected. Charles Darwin, however, seemed similar to McClintock in that he tried to have strong evidence to support his findings. Although, I am not sure that Darwin went and found all the evidence that he could, he did find strong evidence so that he could find against objection. Another thing that came up in the reading was that Barbara McClintock was very committed to her work, and she always wanted to find out everything that she could about the topic at hand. Both Charles Darwin and Benjamin Franklin were like this as well; these men worked hard and were dedicated to their work, and when it came to science they wanted to find out as much as they could — especially Franklin. I find it interesting how as we continue to read these scientists’ autobiographies and biographies, the scientist involved are always extremely dedicate to there work and are always wanted to find out the most they possibly can. I believe that this is one of the things that makes a good scientist great. The dedication and need for knowledge is so strong in these people, that they go out and discover things that other might never have thought of. It’s these scientists that make learning about their discoveries so interesting.
McClintock was also aware that people could be confused with her findings, and she knew that there would be people who would reject her ideas, but she continued to do her research and she ended up figuring out a major part of science. This is very similar to Charles Darwin. He knew that his findings went against what the church believed, and yet he went out and published his findings anyway. It’s amazing how these people continued to do what they were passionate about even when they had so many people against them. I think this is inspiring, and it is part of what allowed them to achieve such great things and become a great scientist.
McClintock was also aware that people could be confused with her findings, and she knew that there would be people who would reject her ideas, but she continued to do her research and she ended up figuring out a major part of science. This is very similar to Charles Darwin. He knew that his findings went against what the church believed, and yet he went out and published his findings anyway. It’s amazing how these people continued to do what they were passionate about even when they had so many people against them. I think this is inspiring, and it is part of what allowed them to achieve such great things and become a great scientist.