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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. How many winters did Barbara spend in Central and South America?

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

3. How many scientists are mentioned in the quote by Einstein when he talks about the deep longing that has to be present in scientists?

4. What is one of the most fundamental questions of genetics that was mentioned in the beginning of Chapter 11?

5. In Chapter 9, Evelyn Keller states that both science and art are dependent on what?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Barbara arrange to get an invitation to Cold Spring Harbor?

2. What were some of the reasons that Cold Spring Harbor was appealing to scientists during the summer?

3. How did Milislav Demerec describe what the view of genes was in 1941?

4. What is the example involving Love Canal that Barbara tries to explain relating to scientists and engineers?

5. What difference did Milislav Demerec observe about the symposium papers from 1941 compared to the papers from 1951?

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

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

8. What did George Beadle tell Warren Weaver of the Rockefeller Foundation about Barbara's visit to Stanford?

9. in the late 1950s, what was the new option that materialized for Barbara?

10. What is the answer to Eveyln Keller's question when she asks, "What enabled McClintock to see further and deeper into the mysteries of genetics than her colleagues?"

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What happened when the author of the book, Evelyn Keller, set out to get on tape and on paper the "recollections and musings" of Barbara McClintock? Describe the experience that Keller had with Barbara and what her impression was of her.

Essay Topic 2

Describe Barbara McClintock. What were some of her strengths and weaknesses? How do you picture Barbara from descriptions in the book? What kind of inner qualities did Barbara possess that made her a good scientist? Explain your answers and use specific information from the book to support your answers.

Essay Topic 3

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.

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