Carl Ludwig
Encyclopedia
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Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig (29 December 1816, Witzenhausen – 23 April 1895, Leipzig) was a German
physician
and physiologist.
In 1842 Ludwig became a professor of physiology and in 1846 of comparative anatomy
. From professorships in Zurich
and Vienna
he went in 1865 to the University of Leipzig
and developed there the Physiological Institute, designated today after him: Carl Ludwig Institute of Physiology
. Ludwig researched several topics such as the physiology of blood pressure
, urinary excretion and anesthesia
. He received the Copley Medal
in 1884 for his research. In 1869, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
. He is credited for inventing the stromuhr.
Since 1932 the Carl Ludwig Honorary Medal is awarded by the German Society for Cardiology to outstanding investigators in the area of cardiovascular research.
, near Kassel
, and studied medicine at Erlangen and Marburg, taking his doctor's degree at Marburg in 1839. He made Marburg his home for the next ten years, studying and teaching anatomy and physiology, first as prosector to FL Fick
(1841), then as privat-docent (1842), and finally as extraordinary professor (1846). In 1849 he was chosen professor of anatomy and physiology at Zurich
, and 6 years afterwards he went to Vienna
as professor in the Josephinum school for military surgeons.
In 1865 Ludwig was appointed to the newly created chair of physiology at Leipzig
, and continued there until his death on 23 April 1895.
, and Emil du Bois-Reymond
, whom he met for the first time in Berlin in 1847, he rejected the assumption that the phenomena of living animals depend on special biological laws and vital forces different from those that operate in the domain of inorganic nature; and he sought to explain them by reference to the same laws as are applicable in the case of physical and chemical phenomena.
This point of view was expressed in Ludwig's celebrated Text-book of Human Physiology (1852–1856), but it is as evident in his earliest paper (1842) on the process of urinary secretion as in all his subsequent work. Ludwig exercised enormous influence on the progress of physiology, not only by the discoveries he made, but also by the new methods and apparatus he introduced to its service. Thus in regard to secretion, he showed that secretory glands, such as the submaxillary, are more than mere filters, and that their secretory action is attended by chemical and thermal changes both in themselves and in the blood passing through them.
Ludwig demonstrated the existence of a new class of secretory nerve
s that control this action, and by showing that if the nerves are appropriately stimulated the salivary glands continue to secrete, even though the animal be decapitated, he initiated the method of experimenting with excised organs. He devised the kymograph
as a means of obtaining a written record of the variations in the pressure of the blood in the blood vessel
s; and this apparatus not only conducted him to many important conclusions respecting the mechanics of the circulation, but afforded the first instance of the use of the graphic method in physiological inquiries. For researches on blood gases, he designed the mercurial blood-pump that, with various modifications, has come into extensive use. He used it for many investigations into gases of the lymph
, the gaseous interchanges in living muscle, the significance of oxidized material in the blood, etc.
There is indeed scarcely any branch of physiology, except the physiology of the senses, to which Ludwig did not make important contributions. He was also a great power as a teacher and the founder of a school. Under him the Physiological Institute at Leipzig became an organized center of physiological research, whence issued a steady stream of original work; and though the papers containing the results usually bore the name of his pupils only, every investigation was inspired by him and carried out under his personal direction. Thus his pupils gained a practical acquaintance with his methods and ways of thought, and, coming from all parts of Europe, they returned to their own countries to spread and extend his doctrines. Possessed himself of extraordinary manipulative skill, he abhorred rough and clumsy work, and he insisted that experiments on animals should be planned and prepared with the utmost care, not only to avoid the infliction of pain (which was also guarded against by the use of an anesthetic), but to ensure that the deductions drawn from them should have their full scientific value.
Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig (29 December 1816, Witzenhausen – 23 April 1895, Leipzig) was a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
and physiologist.
In 1842 Ludwig became a professor of physiology and in 1846 of comparative anatomy
Comparative anatomy
Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of organisms. It is closely related to evolutionary biology and phylogeny .-Description:...
. From professorships in Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
and Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
he went in 1865 to the University of Leipzig
University of Leipzig
The University of Leipzig , located in Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, is one of the oldest universities in the world and the second-oldest university in Germany...
and developed there the Physiological Institute, designated today after him: Carl Ludwig Institute of Physiology
Carl Ludwig Institute of Physiology
The Carl Ludwig Institute of Physiology was established by Carl Ludwig in 1865. This Physiological Institute is part of the University of Leipzig and is designated today after him.- Heads and earlier teachers of physiology:...
. Ludwig researched several topics such as the physiology of blood pressure
Blood pressure
Blood pressure is the pressure exerted by circulating blood upon the walls of blood vessels, and is one of the principal vital signs. When used without further specification, "blood pressure" usually refers to the arterial pressure of the systemic circulation. During each heartbeat, BP varies...
, urinary excretion and anesthesia
Anesthesia
Anesthesia, or anaesthesia , traditionally meant the condition of having sensation blocked or temporarily taken away...
. He received the Copley Medal
Copley Medal
The Copley Medal is an award given by the Royal Society of London for "outstanding achievements in research in any branch of science, and alternates between the physical sciences and the biological sciences"...
in 1884 for his research. In 1869, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences or Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. The Academy is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization which acts to promote the sciences, primarily the natural sciences and mathematics.The Academy was founded on 2...
. He is credited for inventing the stromuhr.
Since 1932 the Carl Ludwig Honorary Medal is awarded by the German Society for Cardiology to outstanding investigators in the area of cardiovascular research.
Life
Ludwig was born at WitzenhausenWitzenhausen
Witzenhausen is a small town in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis in northeastern Hesse, Germany.It was granted town rights in 1225, and until 1974, it was a district seat....
, near Kassel
Kassel
Kassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...
, and studied medicine at Erlangen and Marburg, taking his doctor's degree at Marburg in 1839. He made Marburg his home for the next ten years, studying and teaching anatomy and physiology, first as prosector to FL Fick
Franz Ludwig Fick
Franz Ludwick Fick was a professor of anatomy at the University of Marburg.-Career:Fick studied the developmental mechanics of bone growth, especially of the skull. He invented the cerebral phantom - an openable paper model showing the various parts of the brain that became the prototype of...
(1841), then as privat-docent (1842), and finally as extraordinary professor (1846). In 1849 he was chosen professor of anatomy and physiology at Zurich
University of Zurich
The University of Zurich , located in the city of Zurich, is the largest university in Switzerland, with over 25,000 students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of theology, law, medicine and a new faculty of philosophy....
, and 6 years afterwards he went to Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
as professor in the Josephinum school for military surgeons.
In 1865 Ludwig was appointed to the newly created chair of physiology at Leipzig
University of Leipzig
The University of Leipzig , located in Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, is one of the oldest universities in the world and the second-oldest university in Germany...
, and continued there until his death on 23 April 1895.
Appraisal
Ludwig's name is prominent in the history of physiology, and he had a large share in bringing about the change in the method of that science that took place in the middle of the 19th century. With his friends Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz, Ernst Wilhelm von BrückeErnst Wilhelm von Brücke
Ernst Wilhelm Ritter von Brücke was a German physician and physiologist.He was born Ernst Wilhelm Brücke in Berlin. He graduated in medicine at University of Berlin in 1842, the following year he became esearch assistant to Johannes Peter Müller...
, and Emil du Bois-Reymond
Emil du Bois-Reymond
Emil du Bois-Reymond was a German physician and physiologist, the discoverer of nerve action potential, and the father of experimental electrophysiology.-Life:...
, whom he met for the first time in Berlin in 1847, he rejected the assumption that the phenomena of living animals depend on special biological laws and vital forces different from those that operate in the domain of inorganic nature; and he sought to explain them by reference to the same laws as are applicable in the case of physical and chemical phenomena.
This point of view was expressed in Ludwig's celebrated Text-book of Human Physiology (1852–1856), but it is as evident in his earliest paper (1842) on the process of urinary secretion as in all his subsequent work. Ludwig exercised enormous influence on the progress of physiology, not only by the discoveries he made, but also by the new methods and apparatus he introduced to its service. Thus in regard to secretion, he showed that secretory glands, such as the submaxillary, are more than mere filters, and that their secretory action is attended by chemical and thermal changes both in themselves and in the blood passing through them.
Ludwig demonstrated the existence of a new class of secretory nerve
Nerve
A peripheral nerve, or simply nerve, is an enclosed, cable-like bundle of peripheral axons . A nerve provides a common pathway for the electrochemical nerve impulses that are transmitted along each of the axons. Nerves are found only in the peripheral nervous system...
s that control this action, and by showing that if the nerves are appropriately stimulated the salivary glands continue to secrete, even though the animal be decapitated, he initiated the method of experimenting with excised organs. He devised the kymograph
Kymograph
A kymograph is a device that gives a graphical representation of spatial position over time in which a spatial axis represents time...
as a means of obtaining a written record of the variations in the pressure of the blood in the blood vessel
Blood vessel
The blood vessels are the part of the circulatory system that transports blood throughout the body. There are three major types of blood vessels: the arteries, which carry the blood away from the heart; the capillaries, which enable the actual exchange of water and chemicals between the blood and...
s; and this apparatus not only conducted him to many important conclusions respecting the mechanics of the circulation, but afforded the first instance of the use of the graphic method in physiological inquiries. For researches on blood gases, he designed the mercurial blood-pump that, with various modifications, has come into extensive use. He used it for many investigations into gases of the lymph
Lymph
Lymph is considered a part of the interstitial fluid, the fluid which lies in the interstices of all body tissues. Interstitial fluid becomes lymph when it enters a lymph capillary...
, the gaseous interchanges in living muscle, the significance of oxidized material in the blood, etc.
There is indeed scarcely any branch of physiology, except the physiology of the senses, to which Ludwig did not make important contributions. He was also a great power as a teacher and the founder of a school. Under him the Physiological Institute at Leipzig became an organized center of physiological research, whence issued a steady stream of original work; and though the papers containing the results usually bore the name of his pupils only, every investigation was inspired by him and carried out under his personal direction. Thus his pupils gained a practical acquaintance with his methods and ways of thought, and, coming from all parts of Europe, they returned to their own countries to spread and extend his doctrines. Possessed himself of extraordinary manipulative skill, he abhorred rough and clumsy work, and he insisted that experiments on animals should be planned and prepared with the utmost care, not only to avoid the infliction of pain (which was also guarded against by the use of an anesthetic), but to ensure that the deductions drawn from them should have their full scientific value.
Further reading
- Luderitz B.: Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig (1816–1895). – Source Journal of Interventional Cardiac Electrophysiology 2004 Dec;11(3):221-2. PMID 15548890
- Zimmer HG.: The contributions of Carl Ludwig to cardiology. Can. J. Cardiol. 1999 Mar;15(3):323-9. PMID 10202196
- Davis JM, Thurau K, Haberle D.: Carl Ludwig: the discoverer of glomerular filtration. - Nephrol. Dial. Transplant. 1996 Apr;11(4):717-20. PMID 8671870
- Schubert E.: The theory of and experimentation into respiratory gas exchange—Carl Ludwig and his school. Pflügers Archiv (Pflugers Arch.) 1996;432(3 Suppl):R111-9. PMID 8994552
- Seller H.: Carl Ludwig and the localization of the medullary vasomotor center: old and new concepts of the generation of sympathetic tone. Pflugers Arch. 1996;432(3 Suppl):R94-8. PMID 8994549
- Thurau K, Davis JM, Haberle DA.: Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig: the founder of modern renal physiology. Pflugers Arch. 1996;432(3 Suppl):R68-72. PMID 8994545
- Schröer H.: Relevance and reliability of Ludwig's scientific conceptions of the physiology of the microcirculation. Pflugers Arch. 1996;432(3 Suppl):R23-32. PMID 8994539
- Zimmer HG.: Carl Ludwig: the man, his time, his influence. Pflugers Arch. 1996;432(3 Suppl):R9-22. PMID 8994538
- Ludwig CF.: 1842—a landmark in nephrology: Carl Ludwig's revolutionary concept of renal function. Kidney Int(ernational). Suppl. 1994 Oct;46:1-23. PMID 7823448
- Fye WB.: Carl Ludwig. Clin. Cardiol. 1991 Apr;14(4):361-3. PMID 2032415
- Fye WB.: Carl Ludwig and the Leipzig Physiological Institute: 'a factory of new knowledge'. Circulation. 1986 Nov;74(5):920-8. PMID 3533314
External links
- Short biography and bibliography in the Virtual LaboratoryVirtual LaboratoryThe online project Virtual Laboratory. Essays and Resources on the Experimentalization of Life, 1830-1930, located at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, is dedicated to research in the history of the experimentalization of life...
of the Max Planck Institute for the History of ScienceMax Planck Institute for the History of ScienceThe Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin was established in March 1994. Its research is primarily devoted to a theoretically oriented history of science, principally of the natural sciences, but with methodological perspectives drawn from the cognitive sciences and from...