Johannes Peter Müller (14 July 1801 – 28 April 1858) was a German physiologist, comparative anatomist,

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 35,800 species of fish had been described as of March 2 ...

, and herpetologist, known not only for his discoveries but also for his ability to synthesize knowledge. The paramesonephric duct (Müllerian duct) was named in his honor.

Life

Early years and education

Müller was born in Coblenz. He was the son of a poor shoemaker, and was about to be apprenticed to a saddler when his talents attracted the attention of his teacher, and he prepared himself to become a Roman Catholic Priest. During his

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

course in Koblenz, he devoted himself to the

classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

and made his own translations of

Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...

. At first, his intention was to become a priest. When he was eighteen, his love for natural science became dominant, and he turned to medicine, entering the University of Bonn in 1819. There he received his M.D. in 1822. He then studied at the University of Berlin. There, under the influence of

G. W. F. Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a 19th-century German idealism, German idealist. His influence extends across a wide range of topics from metaphysical issues in epistemology and ontology, to political phi ...

and Karl Rudolphi, he was induced to reject all systems of physiology which were not founded upon a strict observation of nature. He habilited there in 1824.

Career summary

He became '' Privatdozent'' of physiology and comparative anatomy at the University of Bonn in 1824, extraordinary professor of physiology in 1826, and ordinary professor in 1830. In 1833 he went to the University of Berlin, where he filled the chair of anatomy and physiology until his death.

Early research

Müller made contributions in numerous domains of physiology, in particular increasing understanding of the voice,

speech Speech is the use of the human voice as a medium for language. Spoken language combines vowel and consonant sounds to form units of meaning like words, which belong to a language's lexicon. There are many different intentional speech acts, suc ...

and hearing, as well as the chemical and physical properties of lymph, chyle and blood. His first important works, ''Zur vergleichenden Physiologie des Gesichtssinns'' (''On the comparative physiology of sight'', Leipzig, 1826) and ''Über die phantastischen Gesichtserscheinungen'' (''On visual hallucination'', Coblenz, 1826), are of a subjective philosophical tendency. The first work concerns the most important facts as to human and animal sight, the second sounds depths of difficult psychological problems. He soon became the leader in the science of the morphological treatment of zoology as well as of experimental physiology. To his research (1830) is due the settlement of the theory of reflex action.

''Elements of Physiology''

In the century preceding Müller's work, many contributions to physiological science had been made. Müller gave order to these facts, developed general principles and showed physiologists how recent discoveries in physics and chemistry could be applied to their work. The appearance of his '' magnum opus'', ''Handbuch der Physiologie des Menschen'', between 1833 and 1840 (translated into English as ''Elements of Physiology'' by William Baly, and published in London 1837–1843) marked the beginning of a new period in the study of physiology. In it, for the first time, the results of human and comparative anatomy, as well as of

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

and other departments of physical science, and tools like the

microscope A microscope () is a laboratory equipment, laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Microscopy is the science of investigating small objects and structures using a microscope. Microscopic ...

, were brought to bear on the investigation of physiological problems. The most important portion of the work was that dealing with nervous action and the mechanism of the senses. Here he stated the principle, previously recognized but not stated as clearly, that the kind of sensation following stimulation of a sensory nerve does not depend on the mode of stimulation but upon the nature of the sense organ. Thus light, pressure, or mechanical stimulation acting on the retina and optic nerve invariably produces luminous impressions. This he termed the law of specific energies of the sense. The book became the leading textbook in physiology for much of the nineteenth century. It manifests Müller's interests in vitalism, philosophy and scientific rigor. He discusses the difference between inorganic and organic matter. He considers in detail various physiological systems of a wide variety of animals, but attributes the indivisible whole of an organism to the presence of a soul. He also proposes that living organisms possess a life-energy for which physical laws can never fully account. Edward Forbes F.R.S. in his '' A History of British Starfishes, and Other Animals of the Class Echinodermata '' (1841) in his preface refers to Muller as "one of the greatest living physiologists, Muller of Berlin".

Later years

In the later part of his life he chiefly devoted himself to comparative anatomy. Fishes and marine invertebrates were his favorite subjects. He took 19 trips to the Baltic and

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

, the Adriatic and the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

to investigate salt-water life. He authored a comprehensive work on the anatomy of

amphibians Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniote, anamniotic, tetrapod, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class (biology), class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all Tetrapod, tetrapods, but excl ...

, which in his era including reptiles. Also, he described several new species of

snakes Snakes are elongated Limbless vertebrate, limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales much like other members of ...

. Müller coined the term '' desmoid'', from the Greek 'tendon-like', in 1838. The same year, he also described phyllodes tumors, which he called cystosarcoma phyllodes. Müller mentored such distinguished scientists and physiologists as Hermann von Helmholtz, Emil du Bois-Reymond, Fritz Müller, Theodor Schwann,

Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle (; 9 July 1809 – 13 May 1885) was a German physician, pathologist, and anatomist. He is credited with the discovery of the loop of Henle in the kidney. His essay, "On Miasma and Contagia," was an early argument ...

, Ernst Wilhelm Brücke, Carl Ludwig and Ernst Haeckel. In 1834, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. In 1846, the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

elected him an international Member. Müller died in Berlin in 1858. In 1899, a bronze statue by Joseph Uphues was erected in his memory in Koblenz.

Works

In addition to hi
''Handbuch der Physiologie''
(translated by Baly in 1843
of Physiology''
, his publications include: * (Leipzig, 1823), a prize dissertation * (1826) * (1826) * (1830), in which he traced the development of the Müllerian duct * (1830) * (1832) * (Berlin, 1832) * (1834–1843) * (Berlin, 1835) * (''On the structural details of malignant tumors'', Coblenz, 1838), unfinished — a pioneering use of microscopical research in the investigation of pathological anatomy * (1841) with F. G. J. Henle * (1842) with F. H. Troschel * (1845–1849) with Troschel * (1848) * (1852) After the death of J. F. Meckel (1781–1833) he edited the .

Notes

References

Short biography and bibliography
in the Virtual Laboratory of the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science *Berrios G E (2005) On the fantastic apparitions of vision by Johannes Müller. ''History of Psychiatry''. 16:229-46

* * * Attribution: *

External links

Müller's Handbuch der Physiologie des Menschen für Vorlesungen
(1837–1840) as fullscan from the original * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Muller, Johannes Peter 1801 births 1858 deaths German physiologists 19th-century German zoologists German herpetologists German ichthyologists German taxonomists History of neuroscience Recipients of the Copley Medal Foreign members of the Royal Society Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) Academic staff of the Humboldt University of Berlin Academic staff of the University of Bonn Humboldt University of Berlin alumni University of Bonn alumni Scientists from Koblenz Scientists from the Rhine Province German Roman Catholics Vitalists Biologists from the Kingdom of Prussia International members of the American Philosophical Society