159:. His parents, Horatio and Leonora Ritter, moved from New York a few years earlier. The Ritter household included William, his brother Frank, his sisters Mary, Ella, and Flora, and his maternal grandparents, Nathan and Ruby Eason. For the first few years of his life his paternal grandparents, Ezra and Mary Ritter, were also living in the area. The family worked hard on the farm, cultivating corn, wheat, potatoes, apples, and other crops.
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Ritter and
Scripps, on the other hand, believed that it was critical to share these scientific discoveries, and by doing so, would help people to "think like a scientist"—with a reasoned thoughtfulness. By the end of 1920, Ritter and Scripps had come to the conclusion that a newspaper would be the best avenue for sharing these scientific discoveries. With Scripps funding, and Ritter as the scientific director, they started the
178:. There, he continued to read voraciously, and had a particular attraction for science. It was here that he started to develop a passion for helping people understand science. He believed that science was the key to the future of society, and that if people could be taught to think with the reasoned, thoughtful, unbiased critical perspective of science, that much suffering in the world could be alleviated.
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433:, which believed that there is no essential difference between a rock and a human life—it's simply a matter of the chemistry involved. If all the chemical reactions were known, we would understand what makes life. The mechanists were fond of saying things like, "the brain secretes thoughts in the same way that the kidneys secrete urine."
448:, Ritter introduced the third school of thought: organicism. While the term "organicism" had been used before, Ritter was the first to use it for biological purposes and to create a theory of it. Organicism believed that life was interrelationships between living things, living in a complex web. Today, organicism might be called
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became good friends as well as business partners. It seemed to be an odd couple, as Ritter was kind, quiet, and scholarly, and
Scripps was opinionated and boisterous, a self-described "damned old crank." Scripps, however, continued to push Ritter to make biology more practical. They came to believe
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Both Ritter and
Scripps believed that science had become too parochial. Many scientists had no desire to solve human problems or even share their insights with the laity. Many scientists felt that sharing their scientific discoveries with the popular media would somehow soil their pure discovery.
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Ritter wanted to set up a permanent laboratory to study the biology along the
Pacific coast. Between 1892 and 1902, he and his colleagues set up temporary research sites at Pacific Grove, Avalon Bay, and San Pedro Harbor. His goal was frustrated by lack of money and lack of an appropriate site.
473:, at the age of 81. At the time of his death, on January 10, 1944, he had 5 book-length unpublished manuscripts written, and parts of many other books and articles. His literary executor, Edna Bailey, consolidated his manuscripts and published sections of them, posthumously, under the title
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Early correspondence shows that he always liked school, and was always seeking meaning—seeking to do something with his life. In 1876, he had the chance to attend high school in
Columbus, Wisconsin, which had opened that year. Like many youth, he struggled with what to do with his life. After
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said that there was something different in life than in non-life. There was a vital force—a spiritual force—that made life. Rocks did not have the vital force. Humans did. The vitalists and the mechanists entered endless debates and wrote endless papers advocating their perspective.
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He continued his study and science advocacy into his later years. He continued to explore the question that E.W. Scripps gave to him, "What is this damned human animal, anyway?" He continued to explore human nature, from a philosophically zoological point of view.
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Ritter needed to earn money for school, and so became a schoolteacher and tutor to pay for his tuition. After a few years of alternately taking classes and teaching to earn money, he graduated with his BA in 1888. The next year he received a scholarship to go to
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was the chair of all the scientific fields at the university. In the fall of 1891, following the growing trend of science specialization, the science department was divided into four departments, and Ritter was appointed the chair of the new zoology department.
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Ritter, like many of his contemporaries, believed it was important to study living things in their natural environment rather than isolate them in laboratory conditions. He was familiar with the work being done at field research stations like the
143:). Innovative and entrepreneurial, with a deep desire for human service, he worked tirelessly to educate people in scientific thinking. He was the first biologist to propose a theory of systems, and seems to be the originator of the term
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The
University of California awarded him the Doctor of Laws degree in 1933. He continued to be a tireless advocate of evolution, science education, and human service. He continued to write, finishing his last published book,
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These biographical facts were taken from correspondence between Ritter and his uncle, Nelson Ritter. Correspondence can be found at
Scripps Institution for Oceanography archives, in the Ritter Family Papers.
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made possible the construction of a pier, a public aquarium, and a library-museum building. She also paid for the construction of a director's residence and cottages for staff and their families.
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After World War I, Scripps and Ritter became convinced that nations needed a forum to rationally work out their differences, rather than going to war. They became great advocates for the
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attending a year of high school, he began to teach at a
Hampden school, while continuing his studies. In 1879, he attended college at the Oshkosh Normal School (now the
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In 1912, the
Biological Association became a department within the University of California and was renamed The Scripps Institution for Biological Research, later the
246:. Chosen for his knowledge of marine biology in general and marine invertebrates in particular, he accompanied the group of scientists on their exploration of Alaska.
194:. Ritter was so impressed by the book, and its thoughtful, unbiased perspectives, that he made the decision to go to the University of California and study with
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boathouse at
Glorietta Bight. At the end of the year, the Marine Biological Association of San Diego was founded with Ritter as scientific director.
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The California woodpecker and I: A study in comparative zoology, in which are set forth numerous facts and reflections by one of us about both of us
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Dexter, Ralph W. (1988). "History of American Marine Biology and Marine Biological Institutions Introduction: Origins of American Marine Biology".
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He spent a few summers at Marine Laboratories, and in 1891 was given a job teaching biology at the University of California in Berkeley.
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198:. He graduated with a teaching certificate from Oshkosh in 1884, and then moved to California to finish his BA at the University.
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that since people were biological animals, then biology ought to have some insights into human behavior and human motivation.
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The long process of finding a suitable place for a marine laboratory is reviewed in Raitt, H. & Moulton, B. (1967).
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Ritter, W.E. (1917). Biology's contribution to a system of morals that would be adequate for modern civilization.
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in Washington DC, using a newspaper format (now Science News) to share science information and discoveries.
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282:, agreed to fund his work in San Diego. In early 1903, Ritter established a biological laboratory in the
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Ritter, W.E. (1924). The move to prevent the teaching of evolution in the public schools of California.
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which would provide space for future expansion and isolation from the inevitable growth of La Jolla.
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One of the great biological controversies of the day was "what is life?" One school of thought was
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Bulletin of the Scripps Institution for Biological Research of the University of California 2
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Ritter went back to college in Oshkosh. While he was there, he read a geology textbook by
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Two years later, the Biological Association purchased a 170-acre (0.69 km) site at
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William Emerson Ritter was born on a farm on November 21, 1856, in Hampden Township,
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Ritter initiated and shaped the Marine Biological Association of San Diego (now
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662:. Los Angeles, CA: Ward Ritchie Press and Mary Bennet Ritter's autobiography.
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124:(November 21, 1856 – January 10, 1944) was an American biologist.
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gave a substantial endowment that made possible the construction of the
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The growth of biological thought: Diversity, evolution, and inheritance
373: in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
135:) and the American Society for the Dissemination of Science (now the
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built what was known as the "little green laboratory at the Cove."
263:(1892), and the Puget Sound Biological Station, later known as the
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Ritter, W.E. (1909, March). Life from a biologist's standpoint.
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The unity of the organism, or the organismal conception of life
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Ritter, W.E. (1905, May). Organization in scientific research.
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Ritter was chosen to be among the elite scientists of the 1899
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of the National Education Association of the United States, 12
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University of California: In Memoriam: William Emerson Ritter
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Ellen Browning Scripps: New Money and American Philanthropy
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Scripps Institution of Oceanography: The first fifty years
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It was also in 1891 that he married a Berkeley physician,
683:. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. pp. 63–79.
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Ritter, W.E. (1923). Why teach science at all? Journal
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Searching for a place for a California Marine Laboratory
235:. In San Diego he met a local physician and naturalist,
171:. He hoped to earn enough money to go back to college.
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In 1903, Ritter was introduced to newspaper magnate
588:Mary Bennett Ritter wrote an autobiography called,
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436:On the other hand, the school of thought called
539:. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
413:, believing it could be an alternative to war.
289:In 1905, the laboratory moved from Coronado to
695:Vitalism and mechanism in biology and medicine
452:. In 1918, Ritter wrote his organicist tome,
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602:Reed, Christina; Cannon, William J. (2009).
723:. New York: Harcourt, Brace, & Company.
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710:. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
257:Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole
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856:University of California, Berkeley alumni
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389:Learn how and when to remove this message
697:. Science 19, (number 470, Jan 1) 18-22.
293:where Ritter secured a lease of land in
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174:In 1881, he took a job as a teacher in
851:University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh alumni
735:Ritter, W.E. & Bailey, E. (1954).
542:Ritter, W.E. & Bailey, E. (1954).
182:Education and early professional years
751:Guide to the William E. Ritter Papers
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371:adding citations to reliable sources
278:who, together with his half-sister,
831:Scripps Institution of Oceanography
798:Scripps Institution of Oceanography
329:Scripps Institution of Oceanography
129:Scripps Institution of Oceanography
110:University of California, San Diego
106:Scripps Institution of Oceanography
774:Special Collections & Archives
764:Special Collections & Archives
737:Charles Darwin and the golden rule
721:The natural history of our conduct
608:. Facts On File, Inc. p. 25.
544:Charles Darwin and the golden rule
475:Charles Darwin and the Golden Rule
192:University of California, Berkeley
137:Society for Science and the Public
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206:for his MA and Ph.D. in zoology.
605:Marine Science: Decade by Decade
509:The higher usefulness of science
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223:. The couple honeymooned at the
471:The California Woodpecker and I
358:needs additional citations for
165:University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh
339:The Ritter-Scripps Partnership
16:American biologist (1856–1944)
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739:. New York: Storm Publishers.
546:. New York: Storm Publishers.
590:More than Gold in California
322:George H. Scripps Laboratory
518:. Boston, MA: Gorham Press.
511:. Boston, MA: Gorham Press.
495:Popular Science Monthly, 75
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265:Friday Harbor Laboratories
244:Harriman Alaska Expedition
157:Columbia County, Wisconsin
56:Columbia County, Wisconsin
826:Harvard University alumni
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454:The Unity of the Organism
261:Hopkins Marine Laboratory
147:for biological purposes.
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760:William E. Ritter Papers
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679:McClain, Molly (2017).
532:(December 6), 729-731.
530:School and Society, 20
333:Ellen Browning Scripps
318:Ellen Browning Scripps
280:Ellen Browning Scripps
122:William Emerson Ritter
23:William Emerson Ritter
719:Ritter, W.E. (1927).
693:Melzer, S.J. (1904).
535:Ritter, W.E. (1936).
514:Ritter, W.E. (1919).
507:Ritter, W.E. (1918).
190:, a professor at the
770:Ritter Family Papers
755:The Bancroft Library
367:improve this article
284:Hotel del Coronado's
836:American zoologists
488:Popular Science, 67
169:Columbus, Wisconsin
808:T. Wayland Vaughan
643:10.1093/icb/28.1.3
631:American Zoologist
303:William S. Hebbard
225:Hotel del Coronado
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802:1903–1924
637:(1): 3-6.
551:References
525:, 854-856.
497:, 174-190.
446:Ernst Mayr
425:Organicism
233:Point Loma
151:Early life
145:organicism
47:1856-11-21
431:mechanism
379:July 2024
324:(1910).
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438:vitalism
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267:(1903).
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