Johann Sperling (12 July 1603 – 12 August 1658) was a German physician, zoologist and physicist, deacon and '' Rektor'' of the

University of Wittenberg Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university i ...

. He was among the first to practise zoology as a natural science, writing a first handbook about animals, ''Zoologia physica''.

Career

Born in

Zeuchfeld Zeuchfeld is a village and a former municipality in the Burgenlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 July 2009, it is part of the town Freyburg. Geography Zeuchfeld is located half-way between the cities of Halle and Weimar, ...

the son of the minister Paul Sperling and his wife Dorothea, he was educated from age 12 at Landesschule Schulpforta, graduating six years later. From 2 June 1621 he studied at the faculty of philosophy of the

, reaching the degree of magister on 27 September 1625. From 2 October 1628, he had the right to lecture at universities. He then studied theology, but turned to medical and physical studies, encouraged by and . He studied with

Daniel Sennert Daniel Sennert (25 November 1572 – 21 July 1637) was a renowned German physician and a prolific academic writer, especially in the field of alchemy or chemistry. He held the position of professor of medicine at the University of Wittenberg for ma ...

, and took part in the dispute with with the treatise ''physico-medicum de morbis totius substantiae & cognatis materiis pro Sennerto contra Freitagium''. Sperling was appointed professor of physics on 2 February 1634. He served as a deacon of the faculty of philosophy four times, and was twice ''Rektor'' of the university. When he died, he was buried in the Schlosskirche on 15 August 1658. Sperling's major work was the zoological book ''Zoologia physica'' which was published in 1661 after his death by . Sperling was among the first to use the term zoology and treat it as a natural science. His book deals first with general aspects common to animals, then with the different classes and species. He has been called an "early modern zoologist".

Selected works

Among Sperling's scientific publications are: * ''De morbis totius substantie'', Wittenberg 1633 * ''De orIgine formarum'', Wittenberg 1634 * ''Institutiones physicae'', Wittenberg 1639 and more * ''De formatione hominis in utero matris'', 1641 * ''Meditationes in Jul. Cael. Scaligeri exercitationes de subtilitate'', Wittenberg 1656 * ''De principiis nobiscum natis'', Wittenberg 1657 * ''Carpologia physica'', Wittenberg 1661 * ''Synopsis anthropologiae physicae'', Wittenberg 1659 * ''Zoologia physica'', Wittenberg 1661 * ''Synopsis physica'', Wittenberg 1661 * ''Exercitationes physicae'', Wittenberg 1663

Literature

* Heinz Kathe: ''Die Wittenberger Philosophische Fakultät 1501–1817''. Böhlau, Köln 2002, *

Walter Friedensburg Karl Walter Friedensburg (6 March 1855 in Hamburg – 19 February 1938 in Wernigerode) was a German historian and archivist. He studied history at the Universities of Göttingen and Breslau, obtaining his habilitation at the University of Marburg ...

: ''Geschichte der Universität Wittenberg.'' Max Niemeyer, Halle (Saale) 1917 * Fritz Roth: ''Restlose Auswertungen von Leichenpredigten und Personalschriften für genealogische und kulturhistorische Zwecke''. vol. 10, p. 134, R 9189 * Hans Theodor Koch: ''Die Wittenberger Medizinische Fakultät (1502–1652) – Ein biobibliographischer Überblick''. In: Stefan Oehmig: ''Medizin und Sozialwesen in Mitteldeutschland zur Reformationszeit''.

Evangelische Verlagsanstalt The Evangelische Verlagsanstalt (EVA) is a denominational media company founded in Berlin in 1946. Its shareholders are the and the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Saxony. The managing director is Sebastian Knöfel. Book publisher The range inc ...

, Leipzig 2007, *

References

Bibliography

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sperling, Johann 1603 births 1658 deaths People from Freyburg, Germany German zoologists 17th-century German scientists 17th-century zoologists 17th-century German physicians University of Wittenberg alumni Academic staff of the University of Wittenberg 17th-century German writers 17th-century German male writers