He soon acquired skill in devising and performing experiments in natural philosophy.
[1] Ritchie's publications led to his appointment to the professorship of natural philosophy at the Royal Institution, where he delivered a course of probationary lectures in 1829.
[1] Ritchie was subsequently engaged on experiments on the manufacture of glass for optical purposes, and a commission was appointed by the government to inquire into his results.
[1] He became known to Sir John Herschel, and through him he communicated to the Royal Society papers On a New Photometer, On a New Form of the Differential Thermometer, and On the Permeability of Transparent Screens of Extreme Tenuity by Radiant Heat.
He communicated to the Royal Society—of which he was elected a fellow—papers On the Elasticity of Threads of Glass and the Application of this Property to Torsion Balances, and also experimental researches on the electric and chemical theories of galvanism, on electromagnetism, and voltaic electricity.