Muller, JP
Name: Johannes Peter Müller
Achievements: Development of anatomy, physiology, embryology and zoology
Born: July 14, 1801; Koblenz, France (now Germany)
Died: April 28, 1858; Berlin, Germany (Aged 57)
Field & Discipline: Medicine; Physiology; Philosophy; Anatomist; Zoologist
Language: German
Father: Unknown
Mother: Unknown
Siblings: Unknown
Spouse: Nanny Zeiller
Children: Max; Maria
Education: University of Bonn
Major Work:
"Elements of Physiology" (1834-40)
Life & Times:
At Bonn, Muller was influenced by followers of the Romantic [rejected] naturphilosophie* school of thought, which was popular there. At Berlin, where he completed his medical studies, Muller dropped the Romantic mystical and speculative aspects of his thinking.
He returned to Bonn in 1824 where he lectured in physiology and comparative anatomy. In his first lecture he explained his view that scientific observation and experiment must be balanced by philosophical contemplation.
His first research into sense organs was published in his "Comparative Physiology of the Visual Sense" (1826) and he was the first to discover that each of the sensory organs responds to stimuli in its own way. From this, Muller decided that the external world is perceived only through the changes which take place in sensory systems as they respond to different stimuli.
Like his contemporary, the Czech physiologist [work related to] Purkinje*, Muller was interested in the link between the perception of subjective phenomena (like those seen when closed eyelids are rubbed) and the brain. In his paper "On Imaginary Apparitions' (1826) Muller argued that the optical system can be stimulated by pictures created internally by the imagination, and that this might account for reports of ghosts and visions.
After a period of depression in 1827, when he was unable to work, Muller had an extraordinarily productive phase at Bonn and soon became highly regarded for his work in physiology, anatomy and evolution. His research resulted in findings on the nervous impulses involved in reflex actions, the composition and coagulation of blood, the formation of images on the retina of the eye and the mechanism of the middle ear.
He discovered the “Mullerian duct” of the female internal sexual organs and verified the law named after Charles [verified work of] Bell* and [verified work of] Magendie*, which described the origins of the sensory and motor nerves in the spinal cord.
During this period Muller conducted experiments, using galvanic electricity on live frogs, which led to the first advances in electrophysiology. Later, he turned against vivisection and physiological experiments on live animals and conducted his research through painstaking observation and comparison.
In 1830, at the age of twenty-nine, Muller was made a full professor at the university. Two years later he became Berlin professor of anatomy and physiology. During his first years at Berlin, he concentrated on physiology and wrote his major work, "Elements of Physiology" (1834-40).
Although the book helped to promote the mechanistic view of life processes in the second half of the century, Muller remained a vitalist. He believed, like [fellow-vitalist with] Klages* and other vitalists at the end of the century, that science could not measure the answer the fundamental processes of life and death.
Inspired by the cell theory put forward by his assistant, [influenced by] Schwann*, Muller examined the cellular structures of tumours. In 1838 he published "On the nature and Structural Characteristics of Cancer " which helped to make pathological histology a separate discipline.
At Berlin, he earned a reputation as an inspired teacher and many of the students who worked with Muller in his laboratory at Berlin became distinguished in the fields of natural science, physiology, anatomy and pathology.
Among them were [taught] Virchow*, [taught] Helmholtz*, [taught] Vierordt*, [taught] Wundt*, [taught] Brucke*, [taught] Schleiden*, [taught] Billroth*, [taught] DuBois-Reymond*, [taught] Remak*, [taught] Meissner*, and [taught] De Bary*.
After suffering another depressive episode in 1840, Muller concentrated mainly on comparative anatomy and zoology. He became a virtuoso collector, and his descriptions and classifications brought him a world-wide reputation. Together with his student [taught] Henle* he studied sharks and verified the observation made by Aristotle that the shark embryo is attached to the mother's womb in the same way as a foetus in the human womb. He organized anew system of classification for fish, and one for songbirds based on the various types of vocal organs.
From 1845, Muller increasingly travelled himself to collect specimens and to make microscopic examinations of animals on site. His expeditions covered the North Sea and the Baltic, the Adriatic and the Ligurian Seas. He made a detailed study of echinoderms and sea slugs and through observation and comparison was able to describe the way they developed.
In his last years, Muller studied the single-celled marine animals Radiolaria and Foraminifera work then continued by his student [taught] Haeckel*.
In 1847 Muller accepted a second term as Rector of Berlin University, an appointment which coincided with the German revolution of 1848. The stress of negotiating between the government and the radical students, and the fear that his anatomical collection might be destroyed, brought on another severe period of depression.
In 1858 he was found dead in bed. He had forbidden an autopsy and many historians presume he took his own life.
Extra Connections: He admired the work of [admired] Kielmeyer*
Some of his work was anticipated by [anticipated by] Monro*
He influenced [influenced] Almroth Wright*
He taught WJ [taught] Little*
Assessment: He was renowned as a teacher and pioneered the use of experimental methods in medical research.
Oneliner: JP Muller, great German physiology teacher
Bibliography:
- Dictionary of Scientific Biography.
- Encyclopedia Brittanica.