Jules–Auguste Béclard (17 December 1817 – 9 February 1887) was a French

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical a ...

born in

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 ...

. He was the son of anatomist

Pierre Augustin Béclard Pierre Augustin Béclard (12 October 1785 – 16 March 1825) was a French anatomist and surgeon, and a native of Angers. He is the father of physiologist Jules-Auguste Béclard (1817-1887). He was a professor of anatomy in Paris and chief surge ...

(1785–1825). In 1842 he earned his doctorate in

, where he later became a professor of

physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...

to the Faculté de Médecine. From 1862 to 1872 he was ''secrétaire annuel'' to the

Académie Nationale de Médecine Situated at 16 Rue Bonaparte in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the Académie nationale de médecine (National Academy of Medicine) was created in 1820 by King Louis XVIII at the urging of baron Antoine Portal. At its inception, the instituti ...

, where from 1873 to 1887 he served as ''secrétaire perpétuel''. Béclard was the author of a classic work on human physiology called ''Traité élémentaire de physiologie humaine comprenant les principales notions de la physiologie comparée'' (1856). Another noted work of his was ''Contraction musculaire dans ses rapports avec la température animale'', a treatise involving correlation of

muscular contraction Muscle contraction is the activation of tension-generating sites within muscle cells. In physiology, muscle contraction does not necessarily mean muscle shortening because muscle tension can be produced without changes in muscle length, such as ...

temperature Temperature is a physical quantity that expresses quantitatively the perceptions of hotness and coldness. Temperature is measured with a thermometer. Thermometers are calibrated in various temperature scales that historically have relied o ...

References

Amis et Passionnes du Pere Lachaise
(translated biography) French physiologists Scientists from Paris Academic staff of the University of Paris 1817 births 1887 deaths Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery {{France-med-bio-stub