Johann Ernst Immanuel Walch (29 August 1725 – 1 December 1778) was a German

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

, linguist, and naturalist from

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a po ...

Life

The son of the theologian

Johann Georg Walch Johann Georg Walch (17 June 1693 – 13 January 1775) was a German Lutheran theologian. Life He was born in Meiningen, where his father, Georg Walch, was general superintendent. He studied at Leipzig and Jena, amongst his teachers being J. F. ...

, he studied

Semitic languages The Semitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken by more than 330 million people across much of West Asia, the Horn of Africa, and latterly North Africa, Malta, West Africa, Chad, and in large immigrant ...

at the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (german: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The ...

, and also

natural science Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

and

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

. In 1749 he published ''Einleitung in die Harmonie der Evangelien'', and in 1750 was appointed professor extraordinarius of

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

. Five years later he became professor ordinarius of

logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from prem ...

and

metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...

; in 1759 he exchanged this for a professorship of

rhetoric Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate par ...

and

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meani ...

. Amongst his theological works were ''Dissertationes in Acta Apostolorum'' (1756–1761); (1772); and after his death appeared ''Observationes in Matthaeum ex Graecis inscriptionibus'' (1779). He also edited a periodical ''

Der Naturforscher ''Der Naturforscher'' ( "The Naturalist") was a German scientific publication of the Enlightenment devoted to natural history. It was published yearly from 1774 to 1804, by J. J. Gebauers Witwe and Joh. Jac. Gebauer at Halle and edited first ...

'' (1774–1778), and during the years 1749-1756 took an active part in editing the ''Zeitungen von gelehrten Sachen''. In the later part of his career Walch found interest in the natural sciences, particularly

fossils A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

and

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other Astronomical object, astronomical objects, the features or rock (geology), rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology ...

. One significant result was the beautifully illustrated, four-volume ''Die Naturgeschichte der Versteinerungen'' (“The Natural History of Petrifactions”), released from 1768 to 1773, and also published in French and Dutch editions. A comprehensive chapter on trilobites in 1771 contains the first use of the word "

trilobite Trilobites (; meaning "three lobes") are extinct marine arthropods that form the class Trilobita. Trilobites form one of the earliest-known groups of arthropods. The first appearance of trilobites in the fossil record defines the base of the ...

" and predates other equally comprehensive treatments by 50 years. Walch died in Jena. His brother

Christian Wilhelm Franz Walch Christian Wilhelm Franz Walch (25 December 1726 – 10 March 1784) was a protestant Germany, German theologian and professor of theology from Göttingen. He authored numerous books. Life Walch was born on 25 December 1726 in Meiningen.

was also theologian.

References

;Attribution * 1725 births 1778 deaths 18th-century German Protestant theologians People from Saxe-Eisenach German entomologists German naturalists German male non-fiction writers {{germany-theologian-stub