Seeds of Discovery: How Barbara McClintock Used Corn and Curiosity to Solve a Science Mystery and Win a Nobel Prize

With colorful and realistic illustrations, Seeds of Discovery tells the story of a female scientist who was ahead of her time.

“Her mother worries that if Barbara goes to college, she will become a strange person that doesn’t belong to society. And no man will want to marry her.” Remember, this is the early 1900s, and women were not supposed to become scientists. “Some even believed that higher education would harm women’s health, making them weak and likely to get sick.”

Some of the story is told in the present tense, and some is told in the past tense. There must be a reason but so far, it isn’t clear. “College is just a dream, she will say later about these happy times.”

Barbara is so busy that she cuts to hair to save money. She works with a professor who wants to study chromosomes. She works with maize. “From Barbara’s careful observation she finds that maize cells contain twenty chromosomes, ten from each parent plant.”

The book mentions Gregor Mendel and his study of pea plants. selective breeding, mutations, Rosalind Franklin, James Watson and Francis Crick, and the Human Genome Project.

“Barbara and her helper Harriet [Creighton] are the first to prove that genes for traits are found on chromosomes.”

Barbara works in many labs across the country and ends up at Cold Spring Harbor on Long Island. She discovers jumping genes and studies them for 30 years.

She never does get married. In 1983 she wins the Nobel Prize.

The book follows Barbara’s life in chronological order. It explains things as they are discovered. It is easy to understand.

The back of the book has a seven-page Timeline of Events, a five-page glossary, four and half pages of source notes, five pages of bibliography, photo credits and an index.

Seeds of Discovery is clear, concise, and kid-friendly. It will be a great addition on bookshelves in schools, libraries and children’s bedrooms.