Education
There he attended the lectures of Louis Jacques Thénard, Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, and Jean-Baptiste Biot.
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William Ritchie
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He was noted as an ingenious experimentalist. He became rector of the Royal Academy of Tain, in Ross-shire. After saving a little money, he provided a substitute to perform his duties, and went to Paris.
He soon acquired skill in devising and performing experiments in natural philosophy.
Ritchie"s publications led to his appointment to the professorship of natural philosophy at the Royal Institution, where he delivered a course of probationary lectures in 1829. In 1832 he was appointed professor of natural philosophy in London University.
Ritchie was subsequently engaged on experiments on the manufacture of glass for optical purposes, and a commission was appointed by the government to inquire into his results. A telescope of eight inches aperture was constructed by Dollond from Ritchie"s glass, at the recommendation of the commission, but its performance was not very satisfactory.
Ritchie died on 15 September 1837 of a fever caught in Scotland.
Membership
Royal Society.
