PETTENKOFER, MAX JOSEPH VON (1818-1901)

This article appears in Volume V21, Page 336 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: PER-PIG

PETTENKOFER, MAX JOSEPH VON (1818-1901) , Bavarian chemist and hygienist, was born on the 3rd of December 1818 at Lichtenheim, near Neuburg. He was a nephew of Franz Paver Pettenkofer (1783-1850), who from 1823 was surgeon and apothecary to the Bavarian court and was the author of some chemical investigations on the vegetable alkaloids. He studied pharmacy and medicine at Munich, where he graduated M.D. in 1843, and after working under

Liebig

LIEBIG, JUSTUS VON, BARON (1803-1873)

at Giessen was appointed chemist to the Munich mint in 1845. Two years later he was chosen extraordinary professor of chemistry in the medical faculty, in 1853 he received the

ordinary

ORDINARY (med. Lat. ordinarius, Fr. ordinaire)

professorship, and in 1865 he became also professor of

hygiene

HYGIENE (Fr. hygiene, from Gr. ir'taivety, to be healthy)

. In 1894 he retired from active

work

WORK

, and on the loth of February 1901 he shot him-self in a fit of depression at his home on the Starnberger See, near Munich. In his earlier years he devoted himself to chemistry, both theoretical and applied, publishing papers on the preparation of gold and platinum, numerical relations between the atomic weights of analogous elements, the formation of aventurine glass, the manufacture of illuminating gas from

wood

, the preservation of oil-paintings, &c. The reaction known by his name for the detection of bile acids was published in 1844. In his widely used method for the quantitative determination of carbonic acid the gaseous mixture is shaken up with baryta or lime water of known strength and the

change

CHANGE (derived through the Fr. from the Late Lat. cambium, cambiare, to barter; the ultimate derivation is probably from the root which appears in the Gr. «a urmu', to bend)

in alkalinity ascertained by means of oxalic acid. But his name is most familiar in connexion with his

work

WORK

practical

PRACTICAL

hygiene

HYGIENE (Fr. hygiene, from Gr. ir'taivety, to be healthy)

, as an apostle of good water, fresh air and proper sewage disposal. His attention was

drawn

DRAWN

to this subject about 185o by the unhealthy condition of Munich.
Pettenkofer gave vigorous expression to his views on hygiene am disease in numerous books and papers; he was an editor of the Zeitschrift fur Biologie from 1865 to 1882, and of the Archiv fit Hygiene from 1883 to 1894.

End of Article: PETTENKOFER, MAX JOSEPH VON (1818-1901)

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/PER_PIG/PETTENKOFER_MAX_JOSEPH_VON_181.html">
PETTENKOFER, MAX JOSEPH VON (1818-1901)
</a>

(Previous)
PETTENKOFEN, AUGUST VON (1821-1889)

(Next)
PETTICOAT

JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email