Josias Weitbrecht

Josiah Weitbrecht (* November 6, 1702 in Schorndorf, † February 28, 1747 in Saint Petersburg ) was an anatomist from Württemberg.

Life and work

After studying at the University of Tübingen Josiah Weitbrecht initially acquired the Master of Arts. In 1721 he came through the mediation of the already operating there anatomist Johann Georg Duvernoy ( 1691-1759 ) to St. Petersburg, where he was in 1725 a member of the Imperial Russian Academy of Sciences was established in later. He then studied medicine and physiology and moved it focuses on the anatomy. In the latter field he initially taught pupils of the Academy affiliated school. On January 22, 1730 Weitbrecht was appointed full professor of physiology. In 1743, he should be fired because of his expiring contract, despite the best evidence, but was initially continued to be employed until 1746 as an honorary force. Only through the intervention of the then Imperial Count Alexei Grigoryevich competent German Razumovsky (1709-1771) his employment contract has now been renewed and Weitbrecht was appointed in January 1747 as professor of anatomy. A short time later, he died on February 28 in 1747.

Josiah Weitbrecht was in his time as one of the most important anatomists. He described primarily the structure and function of the disc. According to him, among other special foramina, ligaments, cartilage, and fibers were named. In addition Weitbrecht recalibrated in winter 1738 Delisle scale for temperature measurements, which originally had 2400 graduations, to which reference points 0 ° De for boiling point and 150 ° De for the melting point of water. In consequence, the Delisle thermometer was used over 100 years in Russia. A total of 21 reports of his research are the basis of today's knowledge. He used it a noble Latin.

Josiah Weitbrecht, derived from the Schorndorfer branch of Württemberg Weitbrecht family, was married to Katharina Sophie Duran from Copenhagen and left behind two daughters and two sons. His nephew Johann Jakob Weitbrecht also moved to St. Petersburg, where he became a successful typographer, music dealers and publishers and purveyors to the court.

Works

• Sive historia corporis humani Syndesmologia ligamentorum quam secundum observationes anatomicas concinnavit et figuris ad Objecta recentia adumbratis illustravit. Typographia Academiae scientiarum, Petro Poli (Petersburg ) in 1742. Citation in Library of Congress.
• Syndesmology; or, A description of the ligaments of the human body, Arranged in accor dance with anatomical dissections and illustrated with figures drawn from fresh subjects. Translated by Emanuel B. Kaplan. Cataloguing data in the Library of Congress.
• Hr. Josiah wide Brecht, ... Syndesmologie. Brought or description of the ligaments of the human body in a full extension, and provided with all the associated figures. King, Strasbourg, 1779.
• Desmographie ou description du corps humain of mens league. Durand, Paris 1752. Citation in Library of Congress.