A Feeling for the Organism: The Life and Work of Barbara McClintock Chapter Summary & Analysis - Chapter 9, A Different Language Summary

Chapter 9, A Different Language Summary and Analysis

In 1951, McClintock gave her talk at the Cold Harbor Symposium; no one understood her. Some complained and others snickered. She tried again, but she was stunned by her failure to explain herself to her colleagues. Even five years later, after the mechanisms she discovered proved to be far more complex than she initially thought, she had trouble explaining herself. Such rejection would be hard for any scholar to endure, but McClintock's conviction that she was right helped her through. She believes that in the long-run it was good for her; she had to readjust. Many were dismissive, but not everyone; she had a few die-hard supporters. These allies, however, could not protect her from overwhelming rejection. She had made a lot of progress towards being at the forefront of her field, but this set her back; and she began to withdraw into her work. McClintock reports to Evelyn that...
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