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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Among plants in the first crop, there were patterns of variegation so unusual they "could not fail to catch the eye". What was so unusual about these kernels?

2. When the National Academy of Sciences elected Barbara McClintock as a member, how many other women before her had held that particular honor?

3. How did Evelyn Witkin say she learned from Barbara and developed her own understanding from her?

4. What did Barbara think when she found that Drosophila that were affected by radiation were more vigorous than the standard Drosophila?

5. In Chapter 11, Evelyn Keller states that molecular biology rescued the gene from decades of ambiguity and what?

Short Essay Questions

1. What were the three critical factors in Millikan's style of research that Holton cited?

2. After a decade of total frustration in her efforts, what happened to make Barbara think that the resistance would be weakened that she had encountered?

3. In the early twentieth century what kind of science did biology transform into and what kind of science had it been before that?

4. What did Keller say about good science and what does it need to proceed?

5. What did Lewis Stadler point out about the knowledge of genes and who else made this point with him?

6. During the time of the 1960s and 1970s what new honors did Barbara recieve from the larger world of biology?

7. Why did Freeman Dyson state that Richard Feynman was unable to communicate and hard to understand?

8. Why was Barbara apprehensive about presenting her data at the next annual Cold Spring Harbor Symposium?

9. What happened after Barbara delivered her talk at the Cold Spring Harbor Symposium?

10. In Chapter 7, when it was mentioned that Barbara was in private upheaval, what significant event happened during that time and why was she in private upheaval?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe Sara McClintock (Barbara's mother). What struggles did Sara McClintock have to face while raising her family? Compare and contrast Sara McClintock and her daughter, Barbara McClintock.

Essay Topic 2

During the course of her life, Barbara McClintock had to deal with a lot of prejudices just because she was a woman. How would her life have been different had she been a man? Do you think she ever regretted the fact that she was a woman? Why or why not? Do you think women today still face certain barriers and "glass ceilings"? Explain your reasoning.

Essay Topic 3

How does the quote we read in Chapter 9, "to say someone is obscure is to put the burden of that failure in communication on the speaker" relate to Barbara McClintock? Why do you think so many people had a hard time understanding or believing in Barbara?

(see the answer keys)

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