Knut Schmidt-Nielsen

Knut Schmidt- Nielsen ( * September 24, 1915 in Trondheim, Norway, † January 25, 2007 in Durham, North Carolina) was an eminent researcher and textbook author in the field of animal physiology, specifically the ecophysiology and comparative physiology. During his lifetime he was honored on the campus of Duke University by a life-size sculpture: a dromedary, which is observed by a man.

Career

Knut Schmidt -Nielsen studied in Oslo Mine and Metal processing, but later Zoology in Copenhagen and went with his family in 1946 in the United States. There he spent two years as a post- doctoral student at Swarthmore College, then a year at Stanford University and three years at the College of Medicine of the University of Cincinnati. From 1952 until his retirement in the late 1980 's, he was at Duke University. Also in 1952 he acquired the citizenship of the United States. At Duke University, he had since 1963 held the James B. Duke Chair of the Faculty of Biology and represented the Department of Physiology. Even in retirement he remained connected his university and taught in his own entertaining way, inter alia, the writing of scientific papers; one of his seminars was: " How to write so that it will be read by anyone " ( " How to Write so did Nobody wants to Read You" ).

Research Topics

Knut Schmidt -Nielsen published 270 scientific journal articles and five books that have been translated into 16 languages. His 1975 textbook, published in Animal Physiology. Adaptation and Environment, which also appeared in German translation later sat, international standards for the representation of knowledge in the field of comparative animal physiology, because the author does not merely facts strung together, but always - and often quite entertaining - also explained the adaptive value of physiological peculiarities. In the obituary of the journal Science, it was said, therefore, Schmidt -Nielsen was regarded as " the father of comparative physiology and integrative biology ".

Schmidt -Nielsen in particular studied the physiological adaptation abilities of animals in extreme habitats such as the deserts of Arizona, the Sahara and the Arctic, that is, the consequences of lack of water, salt excess and strongly deviates from the intrinsic temperature ambient temperatures. Especially he was interested at first the kangaroo rats of Arizona, later certain frogs that live in salt water, and the camels. His autobiography was published in 1998 in reference to his more than 20 years operated Camel studies entitled: " The Camel 's Nose: Memoirs of a Curious Scientist". On the campus of Duke University recalls since July 1997, the life-size bronze ensemble The Scientist and Nature ( a camel and a questioning three looking man ) to Schmidt -Nielsen and his research on the physiology of camels from the early 1950s.

Before Schmidt- Nielsen's long-standing work with camels had believed the hump serves for water storage; actually it is a fat storage, and only from the fat metabolism and water is obtained. Schmidt -Nielsen was able to demonstrate minimize what special adaptations of the kidney, heat regulation and even the nasal membranes to water loss of these desert animals despite high ambient temperatures. He also showed that camels less set than other animals on the principle of evaporative cooling, but during the day to increase their body temperature of 34 degrees in the morning to the afternoon 41 degrees.

Schmidt -Nielsen also discovered that in salt water live reptiles, amphibians, and many sea birds have developed special glands for separating salt. Seabirds can help excrete droplets of concentrated salt in their noses and this wegschütteln with jerky head movements. The ostrich is he showed which evolutionary adaptations enable him to run fast in hot steppe landscape without sweating it.

Started Schmidt -Nielsen had his desert ecological studies in Arizona, where he explored the breathing technique of kangaroo rats. He found that the nasal cavity into this largely nocturnal animals is cooled by the outside air inhaled and that - conversely - the body warm air when you exhale in the cool nose is cooled. As a result, when cooling, the humidity of the exhaled air can be absorbed by the nasal mucosa. A similar adaptation performance he later rejected after by the camels. In dogs, he discovered together with colleagues a contrary adjustment Power: When dogs are heated by a continuous running and panting, then breathe out through the nose and out through the mouth to expel as much heat energy in the form of warm, moist air.

Together with William Bretz described Schmidt -Nielsen finally for the first time the special breathing technique of the birds. In contrast to the mammals, the lungs a " bag ", and is carried out where the air supply and discharge via a single aperture, there is a lung of the birds from many parallel tubes, in which one end of the fresh air inlet and at the other end of the breathing air exits.

Honors

Knut Schmidt -Nielsen was a member of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States, the Royal Society of London and the French Academy of Sciences. He was honored in Japan with the International Prize for Biology, whose reputation in Asia is like the Nobel Prize in 1992. From 1980 to 1986 he was President of the International Union of Physiological Sciences.