Scientist of the Day - Ruth Patrick
A duck pond in Philadelphia, where diatoms proliferated, as drawn in 1700, frontispiece, The Diatomaceæ of Philadelphia and Vicinity, by Charles S. Boyer, 1916, early acquisition of Ruth Patrick, with her hand-written home address on flyleaf (The Linda Hall)
Ruth Patrick, an American ecologist and microbiologist, died on Sep. 23, 2013, at the age of 105. She was born in Topeka on Nov 26, 1907, and was raised here in Kansas City. Her father, Frank Patrick, was a prominent banker in Kansas City, but his degree from Cornell was in botany, and he was an active weekend botanist, especially once he had a daughter with similar interests. Fifty years later, Ruth recalled collecting specimens in local parks with her father and returning home to examine them with one of the four microscopes he kept locked away in the roll-top desk in his study.
Ruth Patrick, limnologist at work, photograph, New York Times, Obituary, Sep. 23, 2013 (https://www.nytimes.com)
Ruth Patrick attended tiny Coker College in South Carolina, which she later recalled as a fortunate choice, since, naturally shy, she had to take on leadership roles she would not have otherwise chosen. She moved on to a PhD program at the University of Virginia, where she studied freshwater ecology, especially the ecosystems of lakes, which is called limnology. She became one of the world's leading experts on diatoms, microscopic plants with cell walls made of silica. Diatoms are extremely sensitive to their environment, so one can tell a great deal about the past of a lake by studying fossil diatoms, which are accurate indicators of past temperatures, acidity, and moisture.
Title page, Micrographia illustrata; or, The Knowledge of the Microscope Explain'd, by George Adams, 1747, gift of Ruth Patrick, with bookplate of Frank Patrick (The Linda Hall)
An Adams universal microscope, engraved frontispiece,
Micrographia illustrata; or, The Knowledge of the Microscope Explain'd, by George Adams, 1747, gift of Ruth Patrick, with bookplate of Frank Patrick (The Linda Hall)
After 7 years of working for free at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, during the Depression, Patrick was hired on as an assistant curator of microscopy, and eventually she was allowed to establish a Department of Limnology at the Academy, which she presided over for many decades. In 1996, at the age of 88, she received the National Medal of Science from President Clinton,
Bookplate of Frank Patrick, in the Library’s copy of Beyträge zur Naturgeschichte der kleinsten Wasserthiere, by Johann Conrad Eichhorn, 1781; gift of Ruth Patrick (The Linda Hall)
Ruth's father Frank had collected books on the history of microscopy, and Ruth had added to his library with books on limnology and diatoms. She was happy to advise the first board of trustees when the Linda Hall Library was establishing itself as a science Library in the 1940s and 50s, and she developed quite a fondness for our institution, and would always drop in whenever she came home to visit from Philadelphia. I first met her on one of those visits, probably in the 1980s, when was in her late seventies, with more energy than most women half her age. At some point, she decided that she would like to bequeath her library and her father's library to the Linda Hall Library, and the bequest was formalized in 1994, when she was 86. She probably did not suspect that she would live 18 more years, to the age of 105!
Title page, Micrographia restaurata, by Robert Hooke, 1745, gift of Ruth Patrick, with bookplate of Frank Patrick (The Linda Hall)
In 2014, we received Dr. Patrick's books, and they have been catalogued and added to either our rare book collection or our general collection, as appropriate. Many of our Scientist of the Day posts have featured books from the Ruth and Frank Patrick Collection, and some of those books are just beautiful. You can see engravings and woodcuts from three Patrick books at our posts on Maximilian Perty, Johann Conrad Eichhorn, and Johann Franz Giendel.
Title page, Opuscules de physique, animale et végétale, by Lazzaro Spallanzani, 1787, gift of Ruth Patrick, with bookplate of Frank Patrick (The Linda Hall)
We are grateful and proud that we are now the legal guardian of this rich legacy.
William B. Ashworth, Jr., Consultant for the History of Science, Linda Hall Library and Associate Professor emeritus, Department of History, University of Missouri-Kansas City. Comments or corrections are welcome; please direct to ashworthw@umkc.edu.
