Johann Ernst Immanuel Walch (1725–1778) 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...

 theologian

Theology

Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

, linguist, and naturalist from Jena

Jena

Jena is a university city in central Germany on the river Saale. It has a population of approx. 103,000 and is the second largest city in the federal state of Thuringia, after Erfurt.-History:Jena was first mentioned in an 1182 document...

.

The son of the theologian Johann Georg Walch

Johann Georg Walch

Johann Georg Walch was a German Lutheran theologian.He was born at Meiningen, where his father, Georg Walch, was general superintendent. He studied at Leipzig and Jena, amongst his teachers being JF Buddeus, whose only daughter he married. He published in 1716 a work, Historia critica Latinae...

, he studied Semitic

Semitic

In linguistics and ethnology, Semitic was first used to refer to a language family of largely Middle Eastern origin, now called the Semitic languages...

 languages at the University of Jena, and also natural science

Natural science

The natural sciences are branches of science that seek to elucidate the rules that govern the natural world by using empirical and scientific methods...

 and mathematics

Mathematics

Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...

. In 1749 he published Einleitung in die Harmonie der Evangelien, and in 1750 was appointed professor extraordinarius of theology

Theology

Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

. Five years later he became professor ordinarius of logic

Logic

In philosophy, Logic is the formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning. Logic is used in most intellectual activities, but is studied primarily in the disciplines of philosophy, mathematics, semantics, and computer science...

 and metaphysics

Metaphysics

Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...

; in 1759 he exchanged this for a professorship of rhetoric

Rhetoric

Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...

 and poetry

Poetry

Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...

.

Amongst his theological works were Dissertationes in Acta Apostolorum (1756–1761); Antiquitales symbolicae (1772); and after his death appeared Observationes in Matthaeum ex Graecis inscriptionibus (1779). He also published a periodical Der Naturforscher (1774–1778), and during the years 1749-1756 took an active part in editing the Zeitungen von gelehrten Sachen.
In the later part of his career Walch found interest in the natural sciences, particularly fossils and geology

Geology

Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...

. One significant result was the beautifully illustrated, four-volume Die Naturgeschichte der Versteinerungen (“The Natural History of
Petrifactions”), released from 1768 to 1773, and also published in French and Dutch editions. A comprehensive chapter on trilobites in 1771
contains the first use of the word "trilobite

Trilobite

Trilobites are a well-known fossil group of extinct marine arthropods that form the class Trilobita. The first appearance of trilobites in the fossil record defines the base of the Atdabanian stage of the Early Cambrian period , and they flourished throughout the lower Paleozoic era before...

" and predates other equally comprehensive treatments by 50 years.
His brother Christian Wilhelm Franz Walch

Christian Wilhelm Franz Walch

Christian Wilhelm Franz Walch was a protestant German theologian and professor of theology from Göttingen. He authored numerous books.- Life :...

was also theologian.