Charles Otis Whitman

Background

Charles Otis Whitman was born on December 6, 1842 in North Woodstock, Me. , the son of Joseph and Marcia (Leonard) Whitman. His ancestry was strictly New England and Puritan. He was a descendant of John Whitman who settled in Weymouth, Massachussets, about 1638. There is evidence all along the line of his ancestors of great persistence and obstinacy of conviction and belief. His father, a carriage-builder by trade, was a Second Adventist of the hardest kind. His mother was also of New England stock. His early environment was the New England small town and countryside, his grandfather's farm, the open country and the woods. As a boy he was not interested in usual sports, but was studious, quiet, and rather diffident. His avocations, ornithology and taxidermy, indicated at an early age that zoology was to be the ruling interest of his life. He broke with his father's religion and was regarded as an unbeliever.

Education

His early education was in the local schools. He entered Bowdoin College as a sophomore in 1865, and his commencement address delivered in 1868, "Free Inquiry, " was good evidence of an unfettered mind. In the summers of 1873 and 1874, however, he attended Agassiz' summer school of natural history on the Island of Penikese, and then definitely committed himself to scientific pursuits by going to the University of Leipzig to study for three years under the great teacher of zoology, Leuckart. He received there the Ph. D. degree.

Career

From 1868 to 1872 he was principal of Westford Academy, and then taught for two years in the Boston English High School. Shortly after his return to America he was appointed to succeed Edward S. Morse in the chair of zoology in the Imperial University of Japan at Tokyo, and remained there for a period of two years only. On his way back to America he spent six months in research at the zoological station of Naples. From 1883 to 1885 Whitman was assistant in zoology at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University. From 1886 to 1889 he was director of the Allis Lake Laboratory at Milwaukee, Wis. , from 1889 to 1892 he taught zoology at Clark University, Worcester, Massachussets, and thereafter until the time of his death was professor and head of the department of zoology in the University of Chicago. He was director of the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, Massachussets, from its foundation in 1888 to 1908. Whitman never indulged in popular teaching; in Japan he had only four students. They, however, became the leaders of zoology in their country. In America he would accept only a few research students, but he was, nevertheless, a great believer in the vocation of the teacher. As an investigator he was ceaselessly active from 1875 to the time of his death, although he published relatively few technical papers. At his death he left a large accumulation of notes and drawings on evolution in pigeons which were arranged and edited by Oscar Riddle and published under the title Posthumous Works of C. O. Whitman by the Carnegie Institution of Washington. His main scientific contributions were in embryology, comparative anatomy, taxonomy, evolution, heredity and animal behavior. His list of more than sixty publications contains a series of delightful essays on theoretical and historical biology, written in a fine, characteristic, polished style. To him belongs the credit for introducing European scientific zo"logy into America, founding, in 1887, the Journal of Morphology and establishing a new standard for scientific publication in America. He also edited Biological Lectures from 1890 to 1899, and, with M. M. Wheeler, the Zoological Bulletin, 1897-99. In 1890 he took the leading part in the establishment of the American Morphological Society, which became in 1902 the American Society of zoologists. The planning of the Marine Biological Laboratory was done on a national scale and he was successful in securing the cooperation of the leading biologists of the United States. The Laboratory became an ideal station representing all biological interests, available to and governed by all the biologists of the country, and Whitman endowed the institution with original and unique features of organization that have stood the test of time. He died in Chicago of pneumonia contracted as a result of exposure, and was buried with simple ceremony at Wood's Hole.

Achievements

• 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. He was known as the "Father of Zoology" in Japan.

Works

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  • Zoology in the University of Tokio (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from Zoology in the University of Tokio For the ...)

  • A Marine Biological Observatory (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from A Marine Biological Observatory The fact re...)

  • Biological Instruction in Universities (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from Biological Instruction in Universities With...)

  • Posthumous Works; Volume 1

    ( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

  • Posthumous Works Volume 2-3

    (This work has been selected by scholars as being cultural...)

  • Posthumous Works of Charles Otis Whitman, Professor of zoy in the University of Chicago, 1892-1910; Director of Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, 1888-1908

    ( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

  • The Embryology Of Clepsine (1878)

    (This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)

  • Orthogenetic Evolution in Pigeons, Vol. 1: Posthumous Works (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from Orthogenetic Evolution in Pigeons, Vol. 1: P...)

Membership

He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Personality

Whitman's appearance commanded attention for he had many distinctive characteristics. Before forty his hair turned completely white while his beard remained dark. He had blue eyes of startling brilliance and depth, and large, round nostrils. He was quietly courteous in manner and very hospitable to scientific men although he avoided all other society. He never compromised a principle and consequently was frequently involved in controversy.

Connections

He married Emily Nunn, of Boston on August 15, 1884. They had two sons.

Father:

Joseph Whitman

Mother:

Marcia (Leonard) Whitman

Spouse:

Emily Nunn