Johann Nathanael Lieberkühn (5 September 1711, in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

– 7 October 1756, in Berlin) was a German

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

. His middle name is sometimes misspelled ''Nathaniel''. Lieberkühn studied

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

initially, and then moved to

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its 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 which r ...

, in particular

mechanics Mechanics (from Ancient Greek: μηχανική, ''mēkhanikḗ'', "of machines") is the area of mathematics and physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among physical objects. Forces applied to objects r ...

. It was only after this that he commenced

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...

. In 1739 he moved to

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

, in the Netherlands, and then a year later to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. Following this he returned to Berlin as a member of the Collegium medico-chirurgicum, the body charged with improving the teaching and science of medicine in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

, making mathematical and optical instruments and working as a professor and medical doctor. Besides his physiological work, Lieberkühn was most known for his preparation of medical

specimen Specimen may refer to: Science and technology * Sample (material), a limited quantity of something which is intended to be similar to and represent a larger amount * Biological specimen or biospecimen, an organic specimen held by a biorepository ...

s—these were still presented up to the nineteenth century, especially in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, as masterpieces. His specimens were prepared primarily with injections of wax-containing fluids into body cavities, creating relatively durable shapes. The Crypts of Lieberkühn (intestinal glands) are named for him; he first described these in detail in ''De fabrica et actione vollorum intestinorum tenuium hominis'', in 1745. Beyond this, Lieberkühn produced optical instruments, further developing the

light microscope The optical microscope, also referred to as a light microscope, is a type of microscope that commonly uses visible light and a system of lenses to generate magnified images of small objects. Optical microscopes are the oldest design of microsco ...

, which he had seen for the first time in Amsterdam. His custom microscopes for studying blood vessels were called "Wundergläser", ‘wonder-glasses’ by his contemporaries. In 1755, Lieberkühn was elected a foreign member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special ...

External links

Sources

18th-century German physicians Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Physicians from Berlin 1711 births 1756 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society {{Germany-academic-bio-stub

See also

External links

Sources