Charles Otis Whitman
Encyclopedia
Charles Otis Whitman was an American zoologist, who introduced modern zoological studies to Japan
, and was influential to the founding of classical ethology
. A dedicated educator who preferred to teach a few research students at a time, he made major contributions in the areas of evolution
and embryology
of worms, comparative anatomy
, heredity
, and animal behaviour
.
. His parents were Adventist
pacifist
s and prevented his efforts to enlist in the Union army in 1862. He worked as a part-time teacher, and converted to Unitarianism
. Following graduation Whitman became principal of the Westford Academy, a small Unitarian-oriented college preparatory school outside Lowell, Massachusetts
. In 1872 he moved to Boston
and after becoming a member of the Boston Society of Natural History
in 1874, he decided to study zoology full time. In 1875 he took a leave of absence and went to the University of Leipzig
in Germany to complete a Ph.D. which he obtained in 1878.
A year later he received a postdoctoral fellowship at the Johns Hopkins University
, but immediately gave it up when after recommended by noted biologist Edward Sylvester Morse, he was hired by the Japanese government to succeed Morse as professor at the Tokyo Imperial University from 1879-1881. Influenced by his training in Germany
, he introduced systematic methods of biological research, including the use of the microscope
.
After leaving Japan, Whitman performed research at the Naples Zoological Station (1882), became an assistant at the Museum of Comparative Zoology
, Harvard University
(1883–5), then directed the Allis Lake Laboratory, in Milwaukee (1886–9), where he founded the Journal of Morphology (1887).
In 1884, Whitman married Emily Nunn. He moved to Clark University
(Worcester, Massachusetts
) (1889–92), then became a professor and curator of the Zoological Museum at the University of Chicago
(1892–1910), while concurrently serving as founding director of the Marine Biological Laboratory
, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
(1888–1908) . During the 1880s, Whitman established himself as the central figure of academic biology in the United States. He systematized the procedures that European anatomists and zoologists had gradually developed ever the past two decades.
Whitman was also a talented artist. Over the course of his career, Whitman worked with more than 700 species of pigeons, studying the relationship between phenotypic variation and heredity. As part of his research, he created a series of watercolor wall charts and also photographed his avian subjects.
In December 1910, however, he caught a chill, and died a few days later.
Whitman was a non-Darwinian evolutionist. Stephen Jay Gould
wrote that Whitman did not believe in Lamarckism
, Darwinism
or mutationism
, instead Whitman was an advocate of orthogenesis
. Whitman only wrote one book on orthogenesis which was published nine years after his death in 1919 titled Orthogenetic evolution in pigeons the book was published in a three volume set titled Posthumous Works of Charles Otis Whitman, Gould claims that the book was written "too late, to win any potential influence".
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, and was influential to the founding of classical ethology
Ethology
Ethology is the scientific study of animal behavior, and a sub-topic of zoology....
. A dedicated educator who preferred to teach a few research students at a time, he made major contributions in the areas of evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
and embryology
Embryology
Embryology is a science which is about the development of an embryo from the fertilization of the ovum to the fetus stage...
of worms, comparative anatomy
Comparative anatomy
Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of organisms. It is closely related to evolutionary biology and phylogeny .-Description:...
, heredity
Heredity
Heredity is the passing of traits to offspring . This is the process by which an offspring cell or organism acquires or becomes predisposed to the characteristics of its parent cell or organism. Through heredity, variations exhibited by individuals can accumulate and cause some species to evolve...
, and animal behaviour
Animal behaviour
Animal behaviour is the subject of:* The field of Ethology* Animal Behaviour, a scientific journal...
.
Biography
Whitman was born in Woodstock, MaineWoodstock, Maine
Woodstock is a town in Oxford County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,307 at the 2000 census. The village of Bryant Pond, on State Route 26 in the northern part of Woodstock, is the town's urban center and largest settlement.-Geography:...
. His parents were Adventist
Adventist
Adventism is a Christian movement which began in the 19th century, in the context of the Second Great Awakening revival in the United States. The name refers to belief in the imminent Second Coming of Jesus Christ. It was started by William Miller, whose followers became known as Millerites...
pacifist
Pacifism
Pacifism is the opposition to war and violence. The term "pacifism" was coined by the French peace campaignerÉmile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress inGlasgow in 1901.- Definition :...
s and prevented his efforts to enlist in the Union army in 1862. He worked as a part-time teacher, and converted to Unitarianism
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
. Following graduation Whitman became principal of the Westford Academy, a small Unitarian-oriented college preparatory school outside Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA. According to the 2010 census, the city's population was 106,519. It is the fourth largest city in the state. Lowell and Cambridge are the county seats of Middlesex County...
. In 1872 he moved to Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
and after becoming a member of the Boston Society of Natural History
Boston Society of Natural History
The Boston Society of Natural History in Boston, Massachusetts, was an organization dedicated to the study and promotion of natural history. It published a scholarly journal and established a museum. In its first few decades, the society occupied several successive locations in Boston's Financial...
in 1874, he decided to study zoology full time. In 1875 he took a leave of absence and went to the University of Leipzig
University of Leipzig
The University of Leipzig , located in Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, is one of the oldest universities in the world and the second-oldest university in Germany...
in Germany to complete a Ph.D. which he obtained in 1878.
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
, but immediately gave it up when after recommended by noted biologist Edward Sylvester Morse, he was hired by the Japanese government to succeed Morse as professor at the Tokyo Imperial University from 1879-1881. Influenced by his training in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, he introduced systematic methods of biological research, including the use of the microscope
Microscope
A microscope is an instrument used to see objects that are too small for the naked eye. The science of investigating small objects using such an instrument is called microscopy...
.
After leaving Japan, Whitman performed research at the Naples Zoological Station (1882), became an assistant at the Museum of Comparative Zoology
Museum of Comparative Zoology
The Museum of Comparative Zoology, full name "The Louis Agassiz Museum of Comparative Zoology", often abbreviated simply to "MCZ", is a zoology museum located on the grounds of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is one of three museums which collectively comprise the Harvard Museum...
, Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
(1883–5), then directed the Allis Lake Laboratory, in Milwaukee (1886–9), where he founded the Journal of Morphology (1887).
In 1884, Whitman married Emily Nunn. He moved to Clark University
Clark University
Clark University is a private research university and liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts.Founded in 1887, it is the oldest educational institution founded as an all-graduate university. Clark now also educates undergraduates...
(Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....
) (1889–92), then became a professor and curator of the Zoological Museum at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
(1892–1910), while concurrently serving as founding director of the Marine Biological Laboratory
Marine Biological Laboratory
The Marine Biological Laboratory is an international center for research and education in biology, biomedicine and ecology. Founded in 1888, the MBL is the oldest independent marine laboratory in the Americas, taking advantage of a coastal setting in the Cape Cod village of Woods Hole, Massachusetts...
, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
Woods Hole, Massachusetts
Woods Hole is a census-designated place in the town of Falmouth in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. It lies at the extreme southwest corner of Cape Cod, near Martha's Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands...
(1888–1908) . During the 1880s, Whitman established himself as the central figure of academic biology in the United States. He systematized the procedures that European anatomists and zoologists had gradually developed ever the past two decades.
Whitman was also a talented artist. Over the course of his career, Whitman worked with more than 700 species of pigeons, studying the relationship between phenotypic variation and heredity. As part of his research, he created a series of watercolor wall charts and also photographed his avian subjects.
In December 1910, however, he caught a chill, and died a few days later.
Whitman was a non-Darwinian evolutionist. Stephen Jay Gould
Stephen Jay Gould
Stephen Jay Gould was an American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, and historian of science. He was also one of the most influential and widely read writers of popular science of his generation....
wrote that Whitman did not believe in Lamarckism
Lamarckism
Lamarckism is the idea that an organism can pass on characteristics that it acquired during its lifetime to its offspring . It is named after the French biologist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck , who incorporated the action of soft inheritance into his evolutionary theories...
, Darwinism
Darwinism
Darwinism is a set of movements and concepts related to ideas of transmutation of species or of evolution, including some ideas with no connection to the work of Charles Darwin....
or mutationism
Mutationism
Mutationism refers to the theory emphasizing mutation as a creative principle and source of discontinuity in evolutionary change, particularly associated with the founders of modern genetics....
, instead Whitman was an advocate of orthogenesis
Orthogenesis
Orthogenesis, orthogenetic evolution, progressive evolution or autogenesis, is the hypothesis that life has an innate tendency to evolve in a unilinear fashion due to some internal or external "driving force". The hypothesis is based on essentialism and cosmic teleology and proposes an intrinsic...
. Whitman only wrote one book on orthogenesis which was published nine years after his death in 1919 titled Orthogenetic evolution in pigeons the book was published in a three volume set titled Posthumous Works of Charles Otis Whitman, Gould claims that the book was written "too late, to win any potential influence".
Partial bibliography
- A contribution to the embryology, life-history, and classification of the Dicyemids (1882)
- The Leeches of Japan (1886)
- The Naturalist's Occupation (1891)
- Evolution and epigenesis: Bonnet's theory of evolution, a system of negations (1895)
- Animal Behavior (1899)
- The metamerism of clepsine (1912)
- Posthumous Works of Charles Otis Whitman (1919)