Samuel Thomas von Sömmering

Samuel Thomas von Soemmering (b. 28 January 1755 in the Hanseatic city of Thorn in Prussia, today Poland; d. 2 March 1830 in Frankfurt, Germany) was a physician, anatomist, anthropologist, paleontologist and inventor. Sömmering discovered the macula in the retina of the human eye. His investigations on the brain and the nervous system, on the sensory organs, on the embryo and its malformations, on the structure of the lungs, etc., made him one the most important German anatomists. January 28 is the 28th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1755 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Thorn, a sharp structure or growth on plants. ... The coat of arms of the Kingdom of Prussia, 1701-1918 The word Prussia (Old Prussian: PrÅ«sa, German: Preußen, Polish: Prusy, Lithuanian: PrÅ«sai, Latin: Borussia) has had various (often contradictory) meanings: The land of the Baltic Prussians (in what is now parts of southern Lithuania, the Kaliningrad... March 2 is the 61st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (62nd in leap years). ... Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix commemorates the July Revolution 1830 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... River Main and the skyline (help· info) is the largest city in the German Federal State of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany. ... Physician examining a child A physician is a person who practices medicine. ... Greek anatome, from ana-temnein, to cut up), is the branch of biology that deals with the structure and organization of living things; thus there is animal anatomy (zootomy) and plant anatomy (phytonomy). ... See Anthropology. ... A paleontologist carefully chips rock from a column of dinosaur vertebrae. ... An inventor is a person who creates new inventions, typically technical devices such as mechanical, electrical or software devices or methods. ... Human eye cross-sectional view. ... Italic text Human eye cross-sectional view. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Comparative brain sizes In animals, the brain, or encephalon (Greek for in the head), acts as the control center of the central nervous system. ... The Balls of an animal coordinates the activity of the muscles, monitors the organs, constructs and also stops input from the senses, and initiates actions. ... (See also sense) A sensory system is a part of the nervous system that consists of sensory receptors, neural pathways, and those parts of the brain responsible for processing the information. ... Embryos (and one tadpole) of the wrinkled frog (Rana rugosa). ... The lungs flank the heart and great vessels in the chest cavity. ...

Career

Samuel Thomas Sömmering was the ninth child of the physician Johann Thomas Sömmering. In 1774 he completed his education in Thorn and began to study medicine at the University of Göttingen. He became a professor of anatomy at the Collegium Carolinum in Kassel and, beginning in 1784, at the University of Mainz. There he was for five years the dean of the medical faculty. In 1795 Sömmering opened up a practice in Frankfurt. As one of his many important enterprises, Sömmering introduced against many resistances the vaccination against smallpox and became one of the first members of the Senckenbergische Naturforschende Gesellschaft and was nominated as counselor. He received offers of employment by the University of Jena and the University of St. Petersburg, but accepted in 1804 an invitation from the Academy of Science of Bavaria, in Munich. In this city, he became counselor to the court and was led into the Bavarian nobility. Medicine is the branch of health science and the sector of public life concerned with maintaining human health or restoring it through the treatment of disease and injury. ... The Georg-August University of Göttingen (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, often called the Georgia Augusta) was founded in 1734 by George II, King of Great Britain and Elector of Hanover, and opened in 1737. ... Watershed of the river Weser Kassel (until 1926 officially Cassel) is a city situated along the Fulda River, one of the two sources of the Weser river, in northern Hessen in west-central Germany. ... Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz (Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz) is a university in the city of Mainz, Germany. ... Vaccination is a term coined by Edward Jenner for the process of administering live, albeit weakened, microbes to patients, with the intent of conferring immunity against a targeted form of a related disease agent. ... Smallpox (also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera) is a highly contagious disease unique to humans. ... Friedrich Schiller University of Jena (FSU) is located in Jena, Thuringia in Germany and was named for the German writer Friedrich Schiller. ... Categories: Russia-related stubs | Universities and colleges in Russia | Saint Petersburg ... Munich and the Bavarian Alps Munich (German: München (pronounced listen) is the largest city and capital of the German Federal State of Bavaria. ...

When Sömmering was 23 years old he described the organization of the cranial nerves as part of this doctoral work: its study is valid until today. He published many writings in the fields of medicine, anatomy and neuroanatomy, anthropology, paleontology, astronomy and philosophy. Among other things it wrote about fossil crocodiles and Archeopteryx. Cranial nerves are nerves that emerge from the brainstem instead of the spinal cord. ... Neuroanatomy is the anatomy of the nervous system. ... Genera Crocodylus Osteolaemus Tomistoma See full taxonomy. ... Binomial name Archaeopteryx lithographica Meyer, 1861 Archaeopteryx lithographica is widely accepted as the earliest and most primitive known bird. ...

In addition, Sömmering was a very creative inventor, having designed a telescope for astronomical observations and an electrical telegraph in 1809. he worked on the refinement of wines, sunspots and many diverse other things. In 1811 he developed the first telegraphic system in Bavaria, which is housed today in the German Museum of Science in Munich. 50 cm refracting telescope at Nice Observatory. ... The electrical telegraph is a telegraph that uses electric signals. ... Wine is an alcoholic beverage produced by the fermentation of grapes and grape juice. ... 400 year sunspot history A sunspot is a region on the Suns surface (photosphere) that is marked by a lower temperature than its surroundings, and intense magnetic activity. ... Deutsches Museum The Deutsches Museum is one of the worlds largest museums of technology and science. ...

Sömmering was married to Margarethe Elizabeth Grunelius (deceased 1802), and had a son, Dietmar William, and a daughter, Susanne Katharina. Due to bad weather, Sömmering left Munich in 1820 and returned to Frankfurt, where he died in 1830. He is buried at the city's main cemetery.

Works

• Über die körperliche Verschiedenheit des Mohren vom Europär (1774)
• Vom Hirn- und Rückenmark (Mainz 1788, 2. Aufl. 1792);
• Vom Bau des menschlichen Körpers (Frankfurt am Main 1791-96, 6 Bde.; 2. Aufl. 1800; neue Aufl. von Bischoff, Henle u. a., Leipzig 1839-45, 8 Bde.);
• De corporis humani fabrica (Frankfurt am Main 1794-1801, 6 Bde.);
• De morbis vasorum absorbentium corporis humani (Frankfurt am Main 1795);
• Tabula sceleti feminini (Frankfurt am Main 1798);
• Abbildungen des menschlichen Auges (Frankfurt am Main 1801),
• Abbildungen des menschlichen Hörorgans (Frankfurt am Main 1806),
• Abbindungen des menschlichen Organs des Geschmacks und der Stimme (Frankfurt am Main 1806),
• Abbildungen der menschlichen Organe des Geruchs (1809).

The exchange of letters between Sömmering and Georg Forster was published by Hettner (Braunschweig, 1878)eben. Portrait of Georg Forster at age 26, by J. H. W. Tischbein, 1781. ...

Bibliography

Wagner, R. Sömmerings Leben und Verkehr mit Zeitgenossen (Leipzig 1844).