August Franz Josef Karl Mayer (2 November 1787 in

Schwäbisch Gmünd Schwäbisch Gmünd (, until 1934: Gmünd; Swabian: ''Gmẽẽd'' or ''Gmend'') is a city in the eastern part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. With a population of around 60,000, the city is the second largest in the Ostalb district a ...

– 9 November 1865 in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

) was a German

anatomist Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its ...

and

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 ...

. He received his education at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Wü ...

, obtaining his doctorate in 1812. Afterwards, he worked as a

prosector A prosector is a person with the special task of preparing a dissection for demonstration, usually in medical schools or hospitals. Many important anatomists began their careers as prosectors working for lecturers and demonstrators in anatomy and p ...

at the Academy of Bern, where in 1815 he was named a professor of anatomy and physiology. From 1819 to 1856 he was a professor 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 ...

. Among his better known students at Bonn were

Johannes Peter Müller Johannes Peter Müller (14 July 1801 – 28 April 1858) was a German physiologist, comparative anatomy, comparative anatomist, ichthyology, ichthyologist, and herpetology, herpetologist, known not only for his discoveries but also for his ability ...

and

Theodor Ludwig Wilhelm von Bischoff Theodor Ludwig Wilhelm von Bischoff (28 October 1807 in Hannover – 5 December 1882 in Munich) was a German physician and biologist. Biography He lectured on pathological anatomy at Heidelberg (1835-1843) and held professorships in anatomy and ...

. His name is associated with a female reproductive disorder known today as Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome (MRKH); named in conjunction with

Carl von Rokitansky Baron Carl von Rokitansky (german: Carl Freiherr von Rokitansky, cs, Karel Rokytanský; 19 February 1804 – 23 July 1878) was a Bohemian physician, pathologist, humanist philosopher and liberal politician, founder of the Viennese School of Medi ...

, Hermann Küster and Georges André Hauser.

Selected works

He was the author of around 145 published works, many of them written from the viewpoint of

natural philosophy Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin ''philosophia naturalis'') is the philosophical study of physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior throu ...

. * ''Ueber Histologie und eine neue Eintheilung der Gewebe des menschlichen Körpers'', 1819 – On

histology Histology, also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology which studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissues. Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at larger structures vis ...

and a new division of tissues of the human body. * ''Beschreibung einer graviditas interstitialis uteri'', 1825. * ''Supplemente zur Biologie des Blutes und des Pflanzensaftes'', Book 1, 1827 – Supplements on the biology of the blood and of plant sap. * ''Über Verdoppelungen des Uterus und ihre Arten, nebst Bemerkungen über Harenscharte und Wolfsrachen'', 1829. * ''Supplemente zur Lehre vom Kreislaufe'', 1827 - Volume 1, 1835 – Supplements to the doctrine of circulation. * ''Flimmerbewegungen, Leben der Blutsphären, Monadenlehre'': 2, 1836. * ''Die Metamorphose der Monaden'', 1840 – The metamorphosis of monads. * ''Beiträge zur anatomie der entozoen'', 1841 – Contributions to the anatomy of Entozoa. * ''Anatomische Untersuchungen über das Auge vom Walfisch'', 1853 – Anatomical investigations on the eye of the whale. * ''Ueber die Struktur der Häutedeckungen der Cetaceen'', 1855 – On the structure of

cetacean Cetacea (; , ) is an infraorder of aquatic mammals that includes whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Key characteristics are their fully aquatic lifestyle, streamlined body shape, often large size and exclusively carnivorous diet. They propel them ...

skin. * ''Zur Anatomie des Orang-Utang und des Chimpanse'', 1856On the anatomy of the orang-utan and the chimpanzee * ''Ueber die fossilen Ueberreste eines menschlichen Schädels und Skeletes in einer Felsenhöhle des Düssel- oder Neander-Thales'', 1864 – Concerning the fossil remains of a human skull and skeleton in a cave of the

Düssel The Düssel is a small right tributary of the river Rhine in North Rhine Westphalia, Germany. Its source is east of Wülfrath. It flows westward through the Neander Valley where the fossils of the first known to be Neanderthal man were found i ...

Neander Neander may refer to: ;Surname * August Neander (1789–1850), a German theologian and church historian * Ernst Neumann-Neander (1871–1954), founder of the now defunct Neander motorcycle manufacturer * Joachim Neander (1650–1680), Calvinist tea ...

valley.The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology and Anthropology of Hunter-Gatherers
edited by Vicki Cummings, Peter Jordan, Marek Zvelebil

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayer, August Franz Josef Karl 1787 births 1865 deaths German anatomists German physiologists People from Schwäbisch Gmünd University of Tübingen alumni University of Bern faculty University of Bonn faculty