A Feeling for the Organism: The Life and Work of Barbara McClintock Chapter Summary & Analysis - Chapter 2, The Capacity to Be Alone Summary

Chapter 2, The Capacity to Be Alone Summary and Analysis

McClintock's work began at the Long Island Biological Laboratories in the town of Cold Spring Harbor, forty miles east of Manhattan. In the winters, scientists can study their alone. The author, Evelyn Keller, travelled there in 1978 to interview McClintock. As a graduate student at the same laboratory, Evelyn often saw McClintock, but never spoke with her. When Evelyn finally meets McClintock, she is star struck and surprised to see that McClintock more or less lived in the lab. Contrary to what Evelyn had heard, she found McClintock warm and approachable. They would speak for five hours, talking about women, science, her life, but she resisted being interviewed, unable to see how her life could be of interest because her life was so eccentric. McClintock lived most of her life alone, but seems totally fulfilled.

McClintock was born to be a pioneer, and was descended from mavericks herself. Her...
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