Otto Schmeil (3 February 1860, Großkugel – 3 February 1943,

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

) was a German

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

and educator. He is remembered for his reform efforts in regards to biology education; as a zoologist, he specialized in research of

copepods Copepods (; meaning "oar-feet") are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat. Some species are planktonic (inhabiting sea waters), some are benthic (living on the ocean floor), a number of species have p ...

and promoted the idea of "living communities" in nature. Andreas W. Daum, ''Wissenschaftspopularisierung im 19. Jahrhundert: Bürgerliche Kultur, naturwissenschaftliche Bildung und die deutsche Öffentlichkeit, 1848–1914''. Munich: Oldenbourg, 1998, pp. 59, 62–3, 259, 386, 389, 408, 456, 509, including a short biography. Following the death of his parents, he became a student of the

Francke Foundations The Francke Foundations (Franckesche Stiftungen), also known as Glauchasche Anstalten were founded in 1695 in Halle, Germany as a Christian, social and educational work by August Hermann Francke The Francke Foundations are today a non-profit e ...

Halle an der Saale Halle (Saale), or simply Halle (; from the 15th to the 17th century: ''Hall in Sachsen''; until the beginning of the 20th century: ''Halle an der Saale'' ; from 1965 to 1995: ''Halle/Saale'') is the largest city of the German state of Saxony-Anh ...

. Beginning in 1880, he worked as schoolteacher in the community of

Zörbig Zörbig () is a town in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated approximately 15 km west of Bitterfeld, and 20 km northeast of Halle (Saale). Zörbig is well known for its molasses made from sugar ...

, then returned to Halle as a teacher in 1883. In 1891 he obtained his doctorate in zoology at

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

as a student of

Rudolf Leuckart Karl Georg Friedrich Rudolf Leuckart (7 October 1822 – 22 February 1898) was a German zoologist born in Helmstedt. He was a nephew to naturalist Friedrich Sigismund Leuckart (1794–1843). Academic career He earned his degree from the Uni ...

, and three years later was named

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of the ''Wilhelmstädter Volksschule'' in

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebur ...

. In 1904 he left the teaching profession in order to pursue a literary career.Munzinger.de
biographywww.WildpflanzenLiebe.de
short biography During his tenure at Magdeburg, he focused on education reform, in particular, the teaching of

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

. In this regard, he strove to move away from the literal approach of instruction, while stressing the need for students to observe nature firsthand and to discover its causal relationships. His "''Über die Reformbestrebungen auf dem Gebiete des naturgeschichtlichen Unterrichts''" (On reform efforts in the areas of natural history teaching) was published over several editions.de.Wikisource
bibliography

Selected writings

* "Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Süsswasser-Copepoden Deutschlands mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Cyclopiden." In: ''Zeitschrift für Naturwissenschaft'' 64, 1891 (dissertation) – Contributions to the knowledge of freshwater copepods in Germany with special emphasis on

Cyclopoida The Cyclopoida are an order of small crustaceans from the subclass Copepoda. Like many other copepods, members of Cyclopoida are small, planktonic animals living both in the sea and in freshwater habitats. They are capable of rapid movement. The ...

. * ''Deutschlands freilebende Süsswasser-Copepoden''. In: Bibliotheca zoologica 1892, 1893 – German free-swimming freshwater copepods. * ''Das Tierreich. Copepoda. I. Gymnoplea'', Berlin 1898 (with

Wilhelm Giesbrecht Wilhelm Giesbrecht (1854–1913) was a Prussian zoologist, specialising in copepods, during the "golden age of copepodology". Giesbrecht was born in Gdańsk in 1854, and was educated in Kiel, where in 1881 he earned a Ph.D. in Baltic copepods un ...

) – The animal kingdom. Copepoda. I.

Gymnoplea Calanoida is an order of copepods, a group of arthropods commonly found as zooplankton. The order includes around 46 families with about 1800 species of both marine and freshwater copepods between them. Description Calanoids can be disting ...

. * In 1901 Schmeil's ''Lehrbuch der Zoologie'' (1898) was translated into English and published as ''Text-Book of Zoology treated from a biological standpoint'' (Adam and Charles Black, London); translator: Rudolph Rosenstock, editor:

Joseph Thomas Cunningham Joseph Thomas Cunningham (1859–1935) was a British marine biologist and zoologist known for his experiments on flatfish and his writings on neo-Lamarckism. Career Cunningham worked at the London Hospital Medical College. He completed his scienc ...

.''Text-Book of Zoology,'' originally published in three parts: Part I. Mammals, Part II. Birds, Reptiles, Fishes etc., Part III. Invertebrates (1900, 1901). Complete work published London : Adam and Charles Black, 1901. Digital copies: i
IAibid.ibid.
see als
BHLibid.ibid.ibid.
/ref> * ''Flora von Deutschland und seinen angrenzenden Gebieten'', 1903 (with

Jost Fitschen Jost Fitschen (1 January 1869, in Brest (Lower Saxony) – 26 January 1947, in Hamburg-Altona) was a German botanist known for his work in the field of dendrology. Beginning in 1889, he worked as a schoolteacher in the town of Geversdorf, afterwa ...

) – Flora of Germany and its neighboring regions. * ''Über die Reformbestrebungen auf dem Gebiete des naturgeschichtlichen Unterrichts''. sixth edition

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

, 1905 – On reform efforts in the areas of natural history instruction. * ''Lehrbuch der Botanik für höhere Lehranstalten und die Hand des Lehrers, sowie für alle Freunde der Natur''. 28. Auflage, Quelle und Meyer, Leipzig 1911 – Textbook of botany for institutions of higher learning, etc. * ''Pflanzen der Heimat Eine Auswahl der verbreitetsten Pflanzen unserer Fluren in Wort und Bild''. second edition, Quelle und Meyer, Leipzig 1913 – Varieties of plants; a selection of the most common plants in text and illustrations.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schmeil, Otto 1860 births 1943 deaths People from Saalekreis 19th-century German botanists 19th-century German zoologists Heads of schools in Germany German carcinologists Leipzig University alumni