Johannes Müller

German physiologist, comparative anatomist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist (1801-1858)

Johannes Peter Müller (14 July 1801 – 28 April 1858), was a German physiologist, comparative anatomist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. In 1833 he became Professor of physiology at the University of Berlin.

Johannes Peter Müller
Johannes Peter Müller
Born(1801-07-14)14 July 1801
Died28 April 1858(1858-04-28) (aged 56)
NationalityGermany
Alma materBonn University
Scientific career
FieldsPhysiology
Doctoral advisorPhilipp Franz von Walther
Karl Rudolphi
Doctoral studentsHermann von Helmholtz
Rudolf Virchow
InfluencedCharles Scott Sherrington

In the later part of his life he chiefly devoted himself to comparative anatomy. Fishes and marine invertebrates were his favourite subjects. He took 19 trips to the Baltic and North Sea, the Adriatic and the Mediterranean to investigate salt-water life.

He authored a comprehensive work on the anatomy of amphibians, which in his era including reptiles. Also, he described several new species of snakes.

Müller mentored some distinguished physiologists and biologists, including Hermann von Helmholtz, Emil du Bois-Reymond, Theodor Schwann, Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle, Carl Ludwig and Ernst Haeckel. In 1834, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He was awarded the Copley Medal of the Royal Society in 1854.

  • Müller, Johannes 1837–1840. Handbuch der Physiologie des Menschen (Human physiology), 3rd ed. 2 vols. Coblenz: Hölscher.
  • Müller, Johannes 1838. Ueber den feinern Bau und die Formen der krankhaften Geschwülste (On the structural details of malignant tumors). Berlin: G. Reimer, unfinished – a pioneering use of microscopical research in the investigation of pathological anatomy.