Ruth Beutler: the woman behind Karl von Frisch

Abstract

The Journal of Comparative Physiology A was founded in 1924 as the Zeitschrift für vergleichende Physiologie by Karl von Frisch and Alfred Kühn. Given the marginalization of women in science at that time, it is remarkable that the first article in the Journal was authored by a female scientist, Ruth Beutler. Throughout her scientific career, she was affiliated with the Zoological Institute of the University of Munich, which, under the leadership of von Frisch, evolved into a world-class academic institution. Despite chronic health problems, Beutler was one of the first women who succeeded in obtaining the Habilitation as qualification for appointment to a professorial position. She was also one of the first scientists who applied methods from physiological chemistry to the study of zoological phenomena. Yet, for many years she was employed as a technician only, and she was never appointed to an Ordinarius (tenured full professorship) position. Her most important contributions to comparative physiology outside her own area of research were her support for, and protection of, Karl von Frisch, particularly during the Nazi era when he, as a ‘quarter-Jew,’ faced imminent threat of forced retirement; and after World War II, when her efforts as interim Ordinarius were instrumental in re-building the bombed-out Zoological Institute to persuade Karl von Frisch to return to Munich. It was also one of her observations that prompted him to revisit, and revise, his earlier (incorrect) model of how honeybees communicate, through their dances, the direction and distances of food sources from the hive.