Joseph Murdoch Ritchie (June 10, 1925 – July 9, 2008) was a

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born

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biophysicist Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that applies approaches and methods traditionally used in physics to study biological phenomena. Biophysics covers all scales of biological organization, from molecular to organismic and populations ...

and a professor at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

Early life and education

Ritchie studied

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

and

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

at the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

, then did his doctorate at

University College, London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

in biophysics in 1952.

Career

He joined the faculty at Yale in

pharmacology Pharmacology is the science of drugs and medications, including a substance's origin, composition, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, therapeutic use, and toxicology. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur betwee ...

in 1968, and later served as chairman of the department and as director of the division of biological sciences (1975–1978). He retired in 2003. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1976. According to his nomination citation '' "Ritchie's early work was concerned with the factors affecting the onset and duration of the active state in striated muscle, and with other aspects of the dynamics of muscular contraction. In 1954 he turned his attention to the properties of mammalian non-myelinated nerve fibres, and since then has made many distinguished contributions to our knowledge not only of some of the physiological functions served by such fibres, but also of the mechanism of conduction in them. In particular, he has been responsible for definitive studies of the mode of action of acetylcholine and local anaesthetics, of the ionic movements during nervous activity, of the temperature changes during the nervous impulse, of oxidative and glucose metabolism, and of the electrogenic sodium extrusion that underlies post-tetanic hyperpolarization. His most recent work on the specific and non-specific binding of

tetrodotoxin Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is a potent neurotoxin. Its name derives from Tetraodontiformes, an Order (biology), order that includes Tetraodontidae, pufferfish, porcupinefish, ocean sunfish, and triggerfish; several of these species carry the toxin. Alt ...

has provided new information about the density of sodium channels in various types of nerve." '' Ritchie is known for asking the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

in 1975 to share its supply of

saxitoxin Saxitoxin (STX) is a potent neurotoxin and the best-known paralytic shellfish toxin. Ingestion of saxitoxin by humans, usually by consumption of shellfish contaminated by toxic algal blooms, is responsible for the illness known as paralytic she ...

(which were used in

suicide pill A suicide pill (also known as the cyanide pill, kill-pill, lethal pill, death-pill, cyanide capsule, or L-pill) is a pill, capsule, ampoule, or tablet containing a fatally poisonous substance that a person ingests deliberately in order to achie ...

s) with scientists for research and his work in neuroscience. He was the co-author of numerous scientific and technical books and articles.https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=j+murdoch+ritchie J. Murdoch Ritchie in

Google Scholar Google Scholar is a freely accessible web search engine that indexes the full text or metadata of Academic publishing, scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines. Released in Beta release, beta in November 2004, th ...

Personal life

He was married to Brenda Bigland–Ritchie, a

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out chemical and ...

. They had a son, Alasdair Ritchie, a

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

, and a daughter, Jocelyn Ritchie, a

neuropsychologist Neuropsychology is a branch of psychology concerned with how a person's cognition and behavior are related to the brain and the rest of the nervous system. Professionals in this branch of psychology focus on how injuries or illnesses of the brai ...

.Pearce, Jeremy (July 29, 2008)
J. Murdoch Ritchie, 83, Yale Biophysicist, Is Dead.
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ritchie, J. Murdoch 1925 births 2008 deaths Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Alumni of University College London American biophysicists American pharmacologists Scottish emigrants to the United States Scottish biophysicists Scottish pharmacologists Yale University faculty Fellows of the Royal Society