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Anonymous
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Those who enjoy reading have probably encountered 'Doc', a marine biologist who is probably one of the most attractive scientific figures in literature. He appears in two of John Steinbeck's novels, Cannery Row (1945) and Sweet Thursday (1954). The cannery workers come and go, but on the waterfront a variety of -- to say the least -- interesting people live permanently: various tramps, winos, prostitutes... and Doc, who lives and works at a biological supply company. Today, many Steinbeck readers may not be aware that Doc was in fact inspired by Steinbeck's friend Ed Ricketts, a biologist who set up one of the only research facilities to blend both science and art under one roof, influencing scientists and artists alike.
In Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday, Doc is some sort of saintly character, much admired by the weird community that surrounds him. He is somehow an unusual scientist, a freelancer trying (not very successfully) to make a commercial living; but he is mostly a great enthusiast for music, art and poetry.
Ed Ricketts, Steinbeck's friend who was at the origin of the character of Doc, was the owner of a real marine biology laboratory -- Pacific Biological Laboratories Inc. -- in New Monterey, and whose identity was well-known when the book was published. Indeed, Ricketts had to face a few readers pestering him to find out more about the 'real' Doc. Even though Ed's Pacific Biological Laboratory was pretty close from the Hopkins Marine Laboratory, it was probably closest in spirit to the Stazione Zoologica at Naples, Italy, which is the very first marine laboratory to have been built.
The Naples Station was set up by a certain Anton Dohrn, who used comparative embryology to support Darwin's theories. Marine invertebrates are particularly suitable for this kind of work, and Dohrn spent about 10 years by the sea, where laboratory facilities were not easy to find at the time. Following a dream, he and a friend conceived the blueprint for an international chain of seaside laboratories where biologists could readily find research facilities.
The Stazione Zoologica opened in 1873 and was hugely successful, as many leading biologists spent some time there, drawn by the facilities and the opportunity to discuss ideas with other leading colleagues. Once this excellent reputation was been established, visits to Naples carried on, even when other good laboratories became later widespread. Eventually, the Naples marine station provided an incentive for the opening of other similar stations around the world, and, by the 1930s, the international network that Dohrn had conceived as a dream became a reality.
But Dohrn also believed -- and rightly so! -- that music and art were as important as science. The Naples station therefore contained a permanent collection of statues, frescoes, and various works of art of various origins, and many concert were also played there. Unfortunately, as other marine stations were founded, especially in Europe and America, they focussed on essentially science and completely overlooked the arts and culture, thus drifting away the original Italian cultural model.
In America, Ed Ricketts's laboratory was trying to follow Anton Dohrn's vision and to emulate Naples Station, uniting both art and science under one roof. Ricketts set up and carried out his own biological research: he mapped the distribution of invertebrates along the Pacific coast from Mexico to Alaska, and tried to explain the ecological mechanisms involved. He also wrote a few popular field guides based on these insights. As he was an enthusiast for fine art, poetry, and classical music, the labs were covered in reproductions of major art works pinned over the walls, and he owned a huge collection of records with a big phonograph (imagine how many records he would have collected if he'd know the modern-day CDs!).
His laboratory was however far less successful than Anton Dohrn's Naples station, and no leading-edge biological research was performed there, even if the field guide Ed Ricketts published in 1939, Between Pacific Tides, was a very popular and professional success that has remained a classic in the field for over 60 years. On the other hand, there were some significant interactions between bright young scientists who regularly visited the laboratory of Pacific Biologicals. The place produced the cross-disciplinary intellectual progress that Dohrn had envisaged for the Naples station, but never actually realised.
John and Carol Steinbeck met and became friends with Ed Ricketts in 1930. In 1932, a free-thinker called Joseph Campbell arrived in New Monterey, and the intense interaction between Steinbeck, Campbell, and Ricketts had a resounding impact on their lives. With Campbell, Ricketts started to believe that humans needed to be closer to Nature, and that they were placing unsustainable demands on Nature. Steinbeck, in turn, embraced Ricketts's view that humans are creatures at the mercy of larger ecological forces. This notion has been seen by literary critics as a fundamental element in Steinbeck's so-called 'mature' writing.
Neither Dohrn nor Ricketts were leading scientists, but both facilitated intellectual work of enormous significance. However, Ricketts's contribution was largely neglected after his death, although many elements of modern ecology and marine biology actually stem from his life-long work.
Apparently, you don't have to have a famous name in science -- least of all a Nobel prize -- to have a significant impact in your field. The simple satisfaction to be a scientist as well as an enthusiast for culture certainly helps to feel that you're leading an enjoyable and rewarding life.
Thanks for reading my inane ramblings, folks. Next time I'll tell you all about the joys of being a dustman who plots to conquer the world armed only with a customised broom and a dustbin lid...
In Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday, Doc is some sort of saintly character, much admired by the weird community that surrounds him. He is somehow an unusual scientist, a freelancer trying (not very successfully) to make a commercial living; but he is mostly a great enthusiast for music, art and poetry.
Ed Ricketts, Steinbeck's friend who was at the origin of the character of Doc, was the owner of a real marine biology laboratory -- Pacific Biological Laboratories Inc. -- in New Monterey, and whose identity was well-known when the book was published. Indeed, Ricketts had to face a few readers pestering him to find out more about the 'real' Doc. Even though Ed's Pacific Biological Laboratory was pretty close from the Hopkins Marine Laboratory, it was probably closest in spirit to the Stazione Zoologica at Naples, Italy, which is the very first marine laboratory to have been built.
The Naples Station was set up by a certain Anton Dohrn, who used comparative embryology to support Darwin's theories. Marine invertebrates are particularly suitable for this kind of work, and Dohrn spent about 10 years by the sea, where laboratory facilities were not easy to find at the time. Following a dream, he and a friend conceived the blueprint for an international chain of seaside laboratories where biologists could readily find research facilities.
The Stazione Zoologica opened in 1873 and was hugely successful, as many leading biologists spent some time there, drawn by the facilities and the opportunity to discuss ideas with other leading colleagues. Once this excellent reputation was been established, visits to Naples carried on, even when other good laboratories became later widespread. Eventually, the Naples marine station provided an incentive for the opening of other similar stations around the world, and, by the 1930s, the international network that Dohrn had conceived as a dream became a reality.
But Dohrn also believed -- and rightly so! -- that music and art were as important as science. The Naples station therefore contained a permanent collection of statues, frescoes, and various works of art of various origins, and many concert were also played there. Unfortunately, as other marine stations were founded, especially in Europe and America, they focussed on essentially science and completely overlooked the arts and culture, thus drifting away the original Italian cultural model.
In America, Ed Ricketts's laboratory was trying to follow Anton Dohrn's vision and to emulate Naples Station, uniting both art and science under one roof. Ricketts set up and carried out his own biological research: he mapped the distribution of invertebrates along the Pacific coast from Mexico to Alaska, and tried to explain the ecological mechanisms involved. He also wrote a few popular field guides based on these insights. As he was an enthusiast for fine art, poetry, and classical music, the labs were covered in reproductions of major art works pinned over the walls, and he owned a huge collection of records with a big phonograph (imagine how many records he would have collected if he'd know the modern-day CDs!).
His laboratory was however far less successful than Anton Dohrn's Naples station, and no leading-edge biological research was performed there, even if the field guide Ed Ricketts published in 1939, Between Pacific Tides, was a very popular and professional success that has remained a classic in the field for over 60 years. On the other hand, there were some significant interactions between bright young scientists who regularly visited the laboratory of Pacific Biologicals. The place produced the cross-disciplinary intellectual progress that Dohrn had envisaged for the Naples station, but never actually realised.
John and Carol Steinbeck met and became friends with Ed Ricketts in 1930. In 1932, a free-thinker called Joseph Campbell arrived in New Monterey, and the intense interaction between Steinbeck, Campbell, and Ricketts had a resounding impact on their lives. With Campbell, Ricketts started to believe that humans needed to be closer to Nature, and that they were placing unsustainable demands on Nature. Steinbeck, in turn, embraced Ricketts's view that humans are creatures at the mercy of larger ecological forces. This notion has been seen by literary critics as a fundamental element in Steinbeck's so-called 'mature' writing.
Neither Dohrn nor Ricketts were leading scientists, but both facilitated intellectual work of enormous significance. However, Ricketts's contribution was largely neglected after his death, although many elements of modern ecology and marine biology actually stem from his life-long work.
Apparently, you don't have to have a famous name in science -- least of all a Nobel prize -- to have a significant impact in your field. The simple satisfaction to be a scientist as well as an enthusiast for culture certainly helps to feel that you're leading an enjoyable and rewarding life.
Thanks for reading my inane ramblings, folks. Next time I'll tell you all about the joys of being a dustman who plots to conquer the world armed only with a customised broom and a dustbin lid...
