William Thierry Preyer (4 July 1841 – 15 July 1897) was an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
-born
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 ...
who worked in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
.
Biography
Preyer was born in
Rusholme
Rusholme () is an area of Manchester, England, two miles south of the city centre. The population of the ward at the 2011 census was 13,643. Rusholme is bounded by Chorlton-on-Medlock to the north, Victoria Park and Longsight to the east, F ...
at
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
. He studied physiology and
chemistry
Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...
at
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 ...
, where he received his doctorate in 1862. In 1866 he earned his medical degree at the
University of Bonn
The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine U ...
, and in 1869 succeeded
Johann Nepomuk Czermak
Johann Nepomuk Czermak (17 June 1828 – 16 September 1873) was an Austrian-German physiologist who was a native of Prague.
He studied in Prague, Vienna, Breslau and Würzburg. At Breslau he was greatly influenced by the work of physiologist Ja ...
(1828-1873) as professor of physiology at the
University of Jena
The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (german: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany.
The un ...
. At
Jena
Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a popu ...
he was also director of the Physiology Institute. His students included Argentinian
Roberto Wernicke.
Preyer was a founder of scientific
child psychology
Developmental psychology is the scientific study of how and why humans grow, change, and adapt across the course of their lives. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult developmen ...
, and a pioneer in regards to research of human development based on empirical observation and experimentation. He was inspired by
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...
's theory of
evolution
Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
and
Gustav Fechner
Gustav Theodor Fechner (; ; 19 April 1801 – 18 November 1887) was a German physicist, philosopher, and experimental psychologist. A pioneer in experimental psychology and founder of psychophysics (techniques for measuring the mind), he inspired ...
’s work in
psychophysics
Psychophysics quantitatively investigates the relationship between physical stimuli and the sensations and perceptions they produce. Psychophysics has been described as "the scientific study of the relation between stimulus and sensation" or, m ...
.
He authored ''Die Seele des Kindes'' (The soul of the child) in 1882. This was a landmark book on
developmental psychology
Developmental psychology is the science, scientific study of how and why humans grow, change, and adapt across the course of their lives. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult deve ...
written as a rigorous case study of his own daughter’s development, including observational records. It was translated to English in 1888. He was also the author of another landmark book on developmental physiology titled ''Specielle Physiologie des Embryo'' (Special physiology of the embryo).
Both works laid a foundation in their respective disciplines for future study of modern human development.
At Jena, Preyer introduced experimental-scientific training methods into his lectures, and also created seminars in the field of physiology. Today, the "William Thierry Preyer Award" is issued by the European Society on Developmental Psychology for excellence in research of human development.
Works
* ''De haemoglobino observationes et experimenta''.
dissertation, (University of Bonn) 1866.
* ''Die Blutkrystalle''. Jena 1871 - The "blood crystal".
* ''Naturwissenschaftliche Thatsachen und Probleme''. Paetel, Berlin, 1880 - Scientific facts and problems.
* ''Die Entdeckung des Hypnotismus. Dargestellt von W. Preyer … Nebst einer ungedruckten Original-Abhandlung von Braid in Deutscher Uebersetzung''. Berlin: Paetel, 1881 - The discovery of
hypnotism. represented by W. Preyer ... Also an unpublished original essay by
James Braid in German translation.
* ''Die Seele des Kindes: Beobachtungen über die geistige Entwicklung des Menschen in den ersten Lebensjahren''. Grieben, Leipzig, 1882 - The soul of the child: observations on the
mental development
The development of the nervous system, or neural development (neurodevelopment), refers to the processes that generate, shape, and reshape the nervous system of animals, from the earliest stages of embryonic development to adulthood. The fiel ...
of man in the first years of life.
* ''Der Hypnotismus. Ausgewählte Schriften von J. Braid. Deutsch herausgegeben von W. Preyer''. Berlin: Paetel, 1882. - Hypnotism. Selected writings of James Braid. German edition by W. Preyer.
* ''Elemente der allgemeinen Physiologie: Kurz und leichtfasslich''. Grieben, Leipzig, 1883 - Elements of general physiology.
* ''Der Hypnotismus: Vorlesungen gehalten an der K. Friedrich-Wilhelm’s-Universität zu Berlin, von W. Preyer. Nebst Anmerkungen und einer nachgelassenen Abhandlung von Braid aus dem Jahre 1845''. Urban & Schwarzenberg, 1890 - Hypnotism: lectures held at the
University of Berlin
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...
by W. Preyer; in addition to notes and an unpublished memoir by James Braid in 1845.
''Zur Psychologie des Schreibens: Mit besonderer Rücksicht auf individuelle Verschiedenheiten der Handschriften'' Hamburg: Voss, 1895
References
;Bibliography
VL PeopleBiographical Information, William Thierry Preyer
* List of publications copied from an equivalent article at the
German Wikipedia
The German Wikipedia (german: Deutschsprachige Wikipedia) is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia.
Founded on March 16, 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia (after the English Wikipedia), ...
.
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Preyer, William Thierry
German physiologists
1841 births
1897 deaths
German psychologists
University of Bonn alumni
British emigrants to Germany
University of Jena faculty
People involved with the periodic table