Rudolf Buchheim (1 March 1820 – 25 December 1879) was a German

pharmacologist Pharmacology is a branch of medicine, biology and pharmaceutical sciences concerned with drug or medication action, where a drug may be defined as any artificial, natural, or endogenous (from within the body) molecule which exerts a biochemic ...

born in

Bautzen Bautzen () or Budyšin () is a hill-top town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and the administrative centre of the district of Bautzen. It is located on the Spree river. In 2018 the town's population was 39,087. Until 1868, its German name was ''Budi ...

(Budziszyn). In 1845 he earned his doctorate from the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December ...

and shortly after became an associate professor of pharmacology,

dietetics A dietitian, medical dietitian, or dietician is an expert in identifying and treating disease-related malnutrition and in conducting medical nutrition therapy, for example designing an enteral tube feeding regimen or mitigating the effects of ...

history of medicine The history of medicine is both a study of medicine throughout history as well as a multidisciplinary field of study that seeks to explore and understand medical practices, both past and present, throughout human societies. More than just histo ...

and

medical literature Medical literature is the scientific literature of medicine: articles in journals and texts in books devoted to the field of medicine. Many references to the medical literature include the health care literature generally, including that of denti ...

at the

University of Dorpat The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...

. In 1849 he was chosen as a full professor of pharmacology.Buchheim, Rudolf Richard
Deutsche Biographie While at Dorpat he created the first pharmacological institute at that school. In 1867 he became professor of pharmacology and

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 ...

at the

University of Giessen University of Giessen, official name Justus Liebig University Giessen (german: Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen), is a large public research university in Giessen, Hesse, Germany. It is named after its most famous faculty member, Justus von ...

. Buchheim is remembered for his pioneer work in experimental pharmacology. He was instrumental in turning pharmacology from an empirical study of medicine into an exact science. He introduced the

bioassay A bioassay is an analytical method to determine the concentration or potency of a substance by its effect on living animals or plants (''in vivo''), or on living cells or tissues(''in vitro''). A bioassay can be either quantal or quantitative, dir ...

to pharmacology, and created a methodology for determining the quantitative and medical aspects of chemical substances. While a student in

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 ...

, Buchheim translated Jonathan Pereira's (1804–1853) handbook of pharmacology from English into German. He also edited the book, eliminating obsolete and ineffectual medicines and practices, while adding updated information, including a chapter of his own called ''Art der Wirkung'' ("The Pharmacological Action"). He was also the author of a well-received textbook on pharmacology, title
''Lehrbuch der Arzneimittellehre''
(3rd edition, 1878). Rudolf Bucheim is considered to be "Father of Pharmacology". A well-known student of his was

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 th ...

Oswald Schmiedeberg Johann Ernst Oswald Schmiedeberg (10 October 1838 – 12 July 1921) was a Baltic German pharmacologist. In 1866 he earned his medical doctorate from the University of Dorpat with a thesis concerning the measurement of chloroform in blood, before ...

(1838–1921), who was to become the "founder of modern pharmacology". Today at the University of Giessen is the Rudolf Buchheim Institute for Pharmacology.

References

External links

*
Web Site of Rudolf Buchheim Institute for Pharmacology
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Buchheim, Rudolf 1820 births 1879 deaths People from Bautzen People from the Kingdom of Saxony German pharmacologists University of Tartu faculty University of Giessen faculty