Breaking Through: Essays, Journals, and Travelogues of Edward F. Ricketts

by Edward F. Ricketts Jr., Susan F. Beegel (Foreword), Katharine A. Rodger (Editor)

Trailblazing marine biologist, visionary conservationist, deep ecology philosopher, Edward F. Ricketts (1897–1948) has reached legendary status in the California mythos. A true polymath and a thinker ahead of his time, Ricketts was a scientist who worked in passionate collaboration with many of his friends―artists, writers, and influential intellectual figures―including, perhaps most famously, John Steinbeck, who once said that Ricketts's mind “had no horizons.” This unprecedented collection, featuring previously unpublished pieces as well as others available for the first time in their original form, reflects the wide scope of Ricketts’s scientific, philosophical, and literary interests during the years he lived and worked on Cannery Row in Monterey, California. These writings, which together illuminate the evolution of Ricketts’s unique, holistic approach to science, include “Verbatim transcription of notes on the Gulf of California trip,” the basic manuscript for Steinbeck’s and Ricketts’s Log from the Sea of Cortez; the essays “The Philosophy of Breaking Through” and “A Spiritual Morphology of Poetry;” several shorter pieces on topics including collecting invertebrates and the impact of modernization on Mexican village life; and more. An engaging critical biography and a number of rare photographs offer a new and richly detailed view of Ricketts’s life.

Genres: Science, Philosophy

369 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[doremiiido · Rating 5 out of 5]

I arrived here mainly for the three philosophical essays ("A Philosophy of Breaking Through," "A Spiritual Morphology of Poetry," and "Essay on Non-Teleological Thinking") and out of curiosity about Henry Miller's alleged statement that Ricketts was one of two people he knew who was "satisfied with his lot, adjusted to his environment, happy in his work, and representative of all that is best in the American tradition."

The hefty introduction was well worth reading too - Rodger does a wonderful job at illuminating Ricketts's keen mind: an amalgamation of a vast ecological consciousness, Eastern philosophy, a love for the humanities and poetry especially, a scientist's rigor and tendency towards categorization and systematization (though different from the intense specialization of traditional academic science as it was turned towards all that he encountered and was fascinated by) - which thrived on active discussion with diverse friends and was grounded in the events of his life and times (e.g. individual duty during WWII and the rupture of personal relationships).

I'd like to return and read his field observations in the future, but with this inspiration am currently itching to dive into works by Gregory Bateson and Robinson Jeffers.

Poetry/other writings to read, mentioned by Ricketts:
- Visions of the Daughters of Albion, William Blake
- Black Marigolds, translated by E. Powys Mathers
- Various Robinson Jeffers: Roan Stallion, The Women at Point Sur, Cawdor, Natural Music
- The Hound Of Heaven, Francis Thompson
- Youth, Joseph Conrad
- Walt Whitman: Out of the Cradle, When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d