Redefining Boundaries: Ruth Myrtle Patrick's Ecological Program at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 1947-1975.

Journal of the History of Biology
Ryan Hearty

Abstract

Ruth Myrtle Patrick (1907-2013) was a pioneering ecologist and taxonomist whose extraordinary career at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia spanned over six decades. In 1947, an opportunity arose for Patrick to lead a new kind of river survey for the Pennsylvania Sanitary Water Board to study the effects of pollution on aquatic organisms. Patrick leveraged her already extensive scientific network, which included ecologist G. Evelyn Hutchinson, to overcome resistance within the Academy, establish a new Department of Limnology, and carry out the survey, which was a resounding success and brought much needed money to the Academy. As demand for her expertise grew among industrial companies, such as the chemical company DuPont, Patrick became more active in the world of applied science. She repurposed data and instruments from her river surveys to run new experiments, test ecological theories, and conduct long-term ecological studies. Through these studies, she advanced an argument that biologist Thomas Lovejoy dubbed the "Patrick principle," the idea that the ecological health of a body of water could be measured by the relative abundance and diversity of species living there. Patrick was elected to the National Academy...Continue Reading

References

Oct 1, 1967·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·R Patrick
Jun 29, 1963·Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences·R PATRICK
Oct 1, 1969·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·R PatrickJ Coles
Mar 21, 2007·Isis; an International Review Devoted to the History of Science and Its Cultural Influences·Thomas L Hankins
Sep 20, 2012·Journal of the History of Biology·Mary E Sunderland

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