Rudolf Leuckart
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| Rudolf Leuckart | |
 Rudolf Leuckart
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| Born | October 7, 1822 Halmstedt |
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| Died | February 6, 1898 |
| Citizenship | Germany |
| Fields | zoology parasitology |
| Institutions | University of Giessen University of Leipzig |
| Alma mater | University of Göttingen |
| Known for | Taenia saginata Taenia solium |
Karl Georg Friedrich Rudolf Leuckart (October 7, 1822 - February 6, 1898) was a German zoologist who was born in Halmstedt. After earning his degree from the University of Göttingen he went on a scientific expedition to the North Sea to study marine invertebrates. He later was a professor of zoology at the University of Giessen (1850) and the University of Leipzig (1869).
Leuckart is remembered for his work in parasitology, particularly his research regarding tapeworm and trichinosis. He was the first to prove that Taenia saginata occurs only in cattle, and Taenia solium occurs only in swine. His study of Trichina helped support Rudolf Virchow's campaign to create meat inspection laws in Germany.
Leuckart split George Cuvier's Radiata into two phylum; Coelenterata and Echinodermata. He is also credited for the classification of Metazoa. His excellent descriptions of morphologic details gave credence to the idea that zoological evolution can be learned through its anatomical changes. Between 1877 and 1892, Leuckart developed a series of scientific wall charts; these charts have been used worldwide as teaching aids. Today the "Rudolf-Leuckart-Medaille" is an annual award for research in parasitology by the Deutschen Gesellschaft für Parasitologie (German Society of Parasitology).
A quote attributed to Rudolf Leckart:
It is not possible for man, as a thinking being, to close his mind to the knowledge that he is ruled by the same power as is the animal world. Like the despised worm he lives in dependence upon external commands, and like the worm he perishes, even when he has shaken the world through the power of his ideas
—Rudolf Leuckart
[edit] Written Works
- Beiträge zur Kenntnis wirbelloser Tiere, R. Leuckart, Heinrich Frey; Braunschweig, 1847
- Über die Morphologie und Verwandtschaftsverhältnisse der wirbellosen Tiere, Braunschweig, 1848
- Zur Morphologie und Anatomie der Geschlechtsorgane, Braunschweig, 1848
- Beiträge zur Lehre der Befruchtung, Göttinger Nachrichten, 1849
- Über den Polymorphismus der Individuen oder die Erscheinungen der Arbeitsteilung in der Natur, Gießen, 1851
- Zoologische Untersuchungen, Gießen, 1853-54, 3 Hefte
- Vergleichende Anatomie und Physiologie, R. Leuckart, Bergmann, Stuttgart, 1852
- Die Fortpflanzung und Entwicklung der Pupiparen, Halle, 1857
- Zur Kenntnis des Generationswechsels und der Parthenogenesis bei den Insekten, Frankfurt, 1858
- Untersuchungen über Trichina spiralis, Leipzig, 1860, 2. Aufl. 1866
- Die Blasenwürmer und ihre Entwicklung, Gießen, 1856
- Die Parasiten des Menschen und die von ihnen herrührenden Krankheiten, Leipzig, 1863-76, 2 Bde.; 2. Aufl. 1879 ff.
- Die Entwicklunggeschichte des Leberegels (Distonum hepaticum, dt.), in: Zoologischer Anzeiger 4, 1881
- Neue Beiträge zur Kenntnis des Baes und der Lebensgeschichte der Nematoden, in: Abbh. Königl. Sächs. Ges. Wiss. Math.-physikal. Cl 1887
[edit] References
- Lukács, D (Feb. 1978). "Karl Georg Friedrich Rudolf Leuckart, founder of parasitology". Orvosi hetilap 119 (6): 341-3. PMID 343042.
