Adolf Fick

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Adolf Fick

Adolf Fick , also Adolph Fick (born September 3, 1829 in Kassel , † August 21, 1901 in Blankenberge / West Flanders , Belgium ) was a German physiologist who worked as a university lecturer in Zurich and Würzburg . Fick was one of the most important representatives of a physically and mathematically founded, experimental physiology.

Life

Fick initially studied mathematics in Marburg ad Lahn from 1847, in line with his special talent . However, influenced by his friend, his physiologist Carl Ludwig , he was soon convinced that his talent in medicine would fall on particularly fertile ground. He completed his studies in Marburg and from 1849 in Berlin in 1851 with the doctoral thesis Tractatus de errore optico , in which he traced the astigmatism as refractive errors back to different corneal curvatures. The doctorate took place in Marburg. A year earlier he had already published fundamental reflections on the statics of the muscles of the thigh .

In 1852 he began to work as a prosector under Ludwig in Zurich and in 1853 he completed his habilitation in Zurich, where in 1856 he received an extraordinary professorship for anatomical and physiological auxiliary sciences and in 1861/62 the full professorship for physiology . In 1868, following a call, he moved to Würzburg , where he held the chair of physiology until 1899. The basic mathematical direction of Ficks is clearly reflected in his numerous scientific works. In 1851 he published fundamental studies on eye movements, in 1855 he established the two basic laws of diffusion on an empirical basis . At the beginning of the 20th century, Albert Einstein succeeded in deriving Fick's laws strictly from thermodynamics and thus giving diffusion a secure theoretical foundation. In 1856 the first major work, Die medicinische Physik , was published, which was thoroughly mathematical, even if formulas were avoided. In 1858, Fick discussed for the first time the adaptation of the muscle fiber length to its function as a regular, biological process. In 1860 the Compendium of Physiology appeared, including the history of development , in 1862 the invention of the pendulum myograph , an apparatus for measuring muscle twitches, followed in 1864 the sphygmograph . In the same year the textbook on the anatomy and physiology of the sensory organs was published .

With his friend Johannes Wislicenus in 1865 , during a mountain tour, Fick refuted Liebig's hypothesis that the muscle itself, i.e. a nitrogenous substance, burns during muscle work. Both researchers initially lived on nitrogen-free foods for a few quiet days and determined the amount of nitrogen excreted in the urine. Then they climbed the 2680 m high Faulhorn and did a lot of muscle work. However, the nitrogen excretion was hardly greater than before. Liebig was refuted that the main muscle fuels were only carbohydrates and / or fats.

The exact definition of isometric and isotonic muscle shortening goes back to Fick. In 1870 Fick showed the classic way of determining the cardiac output from the arteriovenous oxygen difference. The method was later generalized to Fick's principle , according to which the flow of an indicator taken up by or released by an organ corresponds to the difference between the indicator flows in the inflow and outflow tract. In 1868 the invention of the instrument later named "Plethysmograph" by Mosso for recording the blood velocity in the arm artery of humans followed. This was followed by numerous works on muscle heat, which are one of the foundations of modern physiology. In 1888, Fick invented an applanation tonometer to measure intraocular pressure. The invention of contact lenses , however, goes back to his nephew Adolf Gaston Eugen Fick .

In addition to treatises of philosophical and mathematical content, Fick has also published many articles that are easy to understand. Fick passionately took a stand on the political questions of the establishment of an empire and the small German solution without Austria, which he regretted ; he was one of the founders of the General German School Association and the German Colonial Society . In 1891 Fick was a member of the 75-member founding committee of the Pan-German Association . He was a member of the Society of German Natural Scientists and Doctors .

Adolf Fick and his wife Emilie were parents of the anatomist Rudolf Fick , who was born in Zurich on February 24, 1866 .

Awards and recognitions

Fick was an honorary doctor of the Philosophical Faculty of the University of Leipzig , member of the Academies of Sciences in Berlin , Munich , Stockholm , Uppsala , Lund, Florence, holder of the golden Cothenius Medal of the Leopoldina . In addition to the highest medal, the Bavarian crown bestowed him the title of " Secret Council " and personal nobility , but Fick did not make use of these awards because this would have contradicted his proverbial modesty and his strong love for civil liberty.

In memory of Adolf Fick, the Adolf Fick Prize is awarded every five years to an outstanding physiologist in the German-speaking area. The award is considered to be the most important award in the field of German-speaking physiology.

Fonts (selection)

  • Collected Writings . Ed .: R. Fick. Stahel'sche Verlags-Anstalt, Würzburg (1903–1905; 1903: Volume I and II, 1904 Volume III, 1905 Volume IV).
  • By measuring the amount of blood in the heart's ventricles. In: Negotiations of the Physico-Medical Society in Würzburg. New Series 2, Volume 16, 1872.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ralf Vollmuth: Fick, Adolf. 2005, p. 396.
  2. ^ Ralf Vollmuth: Fick, Adolf. 2005, p. 396.
  3. ^ Ralf Vollmuth: Fick, Adolf. 2005, p. 396.
  4. ↑ A. Fick: A new myograph . In: Quarterly publication of the Natural Research Society in Zurich . Schulthess polygraphischer Verlag, 1862, p. 307 ff., Books.google.de
  5. ↑ Hans-Liudger Dienel: Technology, friend of old age: past and future later freedoms . Franz Steiner Verlag, 1999, ISBN 3-515-07590-9
  6. ^ Michael Peters: Alldeutscher Verband (ADV), 1891-1939 . In: Historical Lexicon of Bavaria
  7. ^ Members of the Society of German Natural Scientists and Doctors 1857  - Internet Archive
  8. ↑ Manfred Stürzbecher:  Fick, Rudolf Armin. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 5, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1961, ISBN 3-428-00186-9 , p. 129 f. ( Digitized version ).
personal data
SURNAME Fuck, Adolf
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Fick, Adolf Eugen (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German physiologist
DATE OF BIRTH September 3, 1829
PLACE OF BIRTH kassel
DATE OF DEATH August 21, 1901
Place of death Blankenberge , Belgium