Oskar Langendorff (1 February 1853 in Breslau – 10 May 1908 in

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

; his first name is sometimes given as "Oscar") was a German physician and physiologist known primarily for his experiments on the isolated perfused heart, the so-called

Langendorff Heart The Langendorff heart or isolated perfused heart assay is an ''ex vivo'' technique used in pharmacological and physiological research using animals and also humans. Named after the German physiologist Oskar Langendorff, this technique allows ...

apparatus. In addition, he is credited with discoveries in

respiration Respiration may refer to: Biology * Cellular respiration, the process in which nutrients are converted into useful energy in a cell ** Anaerobic respiration, cellular respiration without oxygen ** Maintenance respiration, the amount of cellul ...

and in the conduction of impulses in the sympathetic and peripheral

nervous system In biology, the nervous system is the complex system, highly complex part of an animal that coordinates its behavior, actions and sense, sensory information by transmitting action potential, signals to and from different parts of its body. Th ...

. His work has served as the basis for the use of retrograde perfusion in science and medicine.

Scientific career

After studying medicine in Wrocław (Breslau),

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and

Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

Langendorff obtained his Ph.D. at the

University of Königsberg The University of Königsberg () was the university of Königsberg in Duchy of Prussia, which was a fief of Poland. It was founded in 1544 as the world's second Protestant Reformation, Protestant academy (after the University of Marburg) by Duke A ...

in 1875, subsequently working there as a research assistant. He received his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

in 1879 with the physiologist

Ludimar Hermann Ludimar Hermann (October 31, 1838 – June 5, 1914) was a German physiology, physiologist and phonetics, speech scientist who used the Thomas Edison, Edison phonograph to test theories of vowel production, particularly those of Robert Willis ( ...

and after 1884 held a post as associate professor. In 1886, he was elected to membership in the

German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (), in short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founded on 1 January 1652, based on academic models in Italy, it was originally named the ''Academi ...

. From 1892 till his death in 1908 Langendorff was professor and director of the physiological institute at the

University of Rostock The University of Rostock () is a public university located in Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Founded in 1419, it is the third-oldest university in Germany. It is the oldest university in continental northern Europe and the Baltic Se ...

Works

* ''Physiologische Graphik. Ein leitfaden der in der physiologie gebräuchlichen registrirmethoden,'' a physiology manual, F. Deuticke, Leipzig: 1891. 316 pp. * ''Untersuchungen am überlebenden Säugetierherzen'' ("Investigation of the living mammalian heart"), Pflügers Arch. 61: 291–332, 1895. * ''Untersuchungen am überlebenden Säugetierherzen II. Über den Einfluss von Wärme und Kälte auf das Herz der warmblütigen Tiere'' ("The influence of heat and cold on the heart of warm-blooded animals"), Pflügers Arch. 66: 355–400, 1897. * ''Untersuchungen am überlebenden Säugetierherzen III. Vorübergehende Unregelmässigkeiten der Herzschlages und ihre Ausgleichung'' ("Transient irregularities of the heartbeat, and their adjustment"), Pflügers Arch. 70: 473–486, 1898.

References

Sources

* Taegtmeyer, H.: ''One hundred years ago: Oscar Langendorff and the birth of cardiac metabolism'', Can J Cardiol. Dec. 1995; 11(11): pp. 1030–5. * Zimmer, H..: ''The Isolated Perfused Heart and Its Pioneers'', News Physiol Sci 13: pp. 203–210, 1998 German physiologists Prussian physicians 19th-century German physicians Physicians from Wrocław University of Königsberg alumni Academic staff of the University of Rostock 1853 births 1908 deaths People from the Province of Silesia {{Germany-med-bio-stub