author
William E. (William Erskine) Kellicott
1878–1919
A biologist and teacher of the early twentieth century, he wrote clearly about embryology and heredity for students and general readers alike. His books capture a moment when modern biology was taking shape, while also reflecting ideas of their time that readers may now approach critically.
1 Audiobook
The Social Direction of Evolution: An Outline of the Science of Eugenics
by William E. (William Erskine) Kellicott
About the author
Born in Buffalo, New York, on April 5, 1878, William Erskine Kellicott was an American biologist and educator. Contemporary records identify him as the son of scientist David S. Kellicott, and a memorial notice in Science says his early education was largely at home before he moved into formal study.
Kellicott taught zoology and biology at several institutions, including Barnard College, Goucher College, and later the College of the City of New York. He is remembered for scientific and educational writing such as A Textbook of General Embryology (1913) and The Social Direction of Human Evolution (1919).
He died on January 29, 1919. Because some of his work engaged with eugenics, a field now widely discredited and recognized as harmful, his books are best read with historical context in mind as examples of how biology was taught and debated in his era.