Thomas August Theodor Poleck (November 10, 1821 – June 1, 1906) was a German

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe t ...

and pharmacist born in

Neisse The Lusatian Neisse (german: Lausitzer Neiße; pl, Nysa Łużycka; cs, Lužická Nisa; Upper Sorbian: ''Łužiska Nysa''; Lower Sorbian: ''Łužyska Nysa''), or Western Neisse, is a river in northern Central Europe.Giessen Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 univer ...

in the laboratory of Justus von Liebig, and in 1846 travelled to Berlin, where he passed the state examination.Google Books
Apotheker-Zeitung, Volume 21 Afterwards he worked in his father's pharmacy, and for several years (1853–1867), taught classes at a ''Realschule'' in Neisse. In 1867 he succeeded Adolph Ferdinand Duflos as director of the pharmaceutical institute at the

University of Breslau A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

. In 1887/88 he was dean of his faculty and in 1888/89 served as rector of the university. His research dealt with

toxicology Toxicology is a scientific discipline, overlapping with biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and medicine, that involves the study of the adverse effects of chemical substances on living organisms and the practice of diagnosing and treating e ...

issues,

food chemistry Food chemistry is the study of chemical processes and interactions of all biological and non-biological components of foods. The biological substances include such items as meat, poultry, lettuce, beer, milk as examples. It is similar to biochemist ...

, the study of

drinking water Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, a ...

and investigations associated with

dry rot Dry rot is wood decay caused by one of several species of fungi that digest parts of the wood which give the wood strength and stiffness. It was previously used to describe any decay of cured wood in ships and buildings by a fungus which resul ...

. He was a good friend of renowned chemist Moritz Traube, who sometimes worked in Poleck's laboratory.

Selected works

* ''Beiträge zur Kenntniss der chemischen Veränderungen fliessender Gewässer'', 1869. * ''Chemische Analyse der Thermen von Warmbrunn am Fusse des Riesengebirges in Schlesien'', 1885.OCLC Classify
published works

References

* "This article incorporates translated text of an equivalent article at the German Wikipedia". German pharmacists 19th-century German chemists Academic staff of the University of Breslau University of Giessen alumni University of Halle alumni People from the Province of Silesia 1821 births 1906 deaths {{Germany-chemist-stub