William Ritchie (1790?–1837) was a Scottishphysicist. He was noted as an ingenious experimentalist.
Born about 1790, he was educated for theChurch of Scotland, and was licensed to preach; but he abandoned the church for the teaching profession. He became rector of theRoyal Academy of Tain, inRoss-shire. After saving a little money, he provided a substitute to perform his duties, and went to Paris. There he attended the lectures ofLouis Jacques Thénard,Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, andJean-Baptiste Biot. He soon acquired skill in devising and performing experiments innatural philosophy.[1]
Ritchie's publications led to his appointment to the professorship of natural philosophy at theRoyal Institution, where he delivered a course of probationary lectures in 1829. In 1832 he was appointed professor of natural philosophy inLondon University.[1]
Ritchie was subsequently engaged on experiments on the manufacture ofglass for optical purposes, and a commission was appointed by the government to inquire into his results. Atelescope of eight inchesaperture was constructed byJohn Dollond from Ritchie's glass, at the recommendation of the commission, but its performance was not very satisfactory (it is unrelated to the laterRitchey–Chrétien telescope).[1]
Ritchie died on 15 September 1837 of a fever caught in Scotland.[1]
He became known toSir John Herschel, and through him he communicated to theRoyal Society papersOn a New Photometer,On a New Form of the Differential Thermometer, andOn the Permeability of Transparent Screens of Extreme Tenuity by Radiant Heat. Shortly afterwards he published two small treatises on geometry (1833; 3rd edit. 1853) and the differential and integral calculus (1836; 2nd edit. 1847). He communicated to the Royal Society—of which he was elected a fellow—papersOn the Elasticity of Threads of Glass and the Application of this Property to Torsion Balances, and also experimental researches on the electric and chemical theories ofgalvanism, onelectromagnetism, andvoltaic electricity.[1]
His papers contributed to thePhilosophical Magazine are in vols. i.–xii.[1]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Stronach, George (1896). "Ritchie, William (1790-1837)". InLee, Sidney (ed.).Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 48. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 326.
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