Adolf Loewy (German spelling: ''Adolf Löwy''; 29 June 1862 – 26 December 1937) was a German

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...

. A native of

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

, Loewy studied medicine at the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (german: link=no, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick Will ...

as a student of

Emil du Bois-Reymond Emil Heinrich du Bois-Reymond (7 November 181826 December 1896) was a German physician and physiologist, the co-discoverer of nerve action potential, and the developer of experimental electrophysiology. Life Du Bois-Reymond was born in Berlin a ...

and Hugo Kronecker, obtaining his medical doctorate in 1885. Later on, he was an assistant to physiologist

Nathan Zuntz Nathan Zuntz (6 October 1847, in Bonn – 22 March 1920, in Berlin) was a German physiologist born in Bonn. He was a pioneer of modern altitude physiology and aviation medicine. Academic career He studied medicine at the University of Bonn, whe ...

(1847-1920) in Berlin ('' Landwirtschaftliche Hochschule''). In 1900 he became an assistant professor,Biographisches Lexikon hervorragender Ärzte
biography in GermanThe Jewish Encyclopedia by Isidore Singer
/ref> and in 1921 was a professor and in charge of the ''Schweizerisches Institut für Hochgebirgsphysiologie und Tuberkuloseforschung'' (Swiss Institute for Altitude Physiology and

Tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in w ...

) at Davos. Loewy conducted extensive research in the field of altitude physiology. This included studies performed at the ''Jüdischen Krankenhaus'' (Jewish Hospital) in Berlin, and at Capanna Regina Margherita, a research station at the top of

Monte Rosa : , other_name = Monte Rosa massif , translation = Mount Rose , photo = Dufourspitze (Monte Rosa) and Monte Rosa Glacier as seen from Gornergrat, Wallis, Switzerland, 2012 August.jpg , photo_caption = Central Mon ...

, Italy. Here he worked with Dr. Zuntz, and other renowned scientists that included

Angelo Mosso Angelo Mosso (30 May 1846 – 24 November 1910) is the 19th century Italian physiologist who invented the first neuroimaging technique ever, known as 'human circulation balance'. Mosso began by recording the pulsation of the human cortex in p ...

(1846-1910) and

Arnold Durig Arnold Durig (12 November 1872 – 18 October 1961) was an Austrian physiologist remembered for his investigations involving physiological and pathophysiological aspects of individuals exposed to high altitude conditions. He very probably s ...

(1872-1961). With Austrian

Hermann von Schrötter (1870-1928), he performed pioneer research of

pulmonary The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in humans and most other animals, including some snails and a small number of fish. In mammals and most other vertebrates, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of ...

hemodynamics Hemodynamics or haemodynamics are the dynamics of blood flow. The circulatory system is controlled by homeostatic mechanisms of autoregulation, just as hydraulic circuits are controlled by control systems. The hemodynamic response continuously ...

. In 1905, through the use of an endobronchial

catheter In medicine, a catheter (/ˈkæθətər/) is a thin tube made from medical grade materials serving a broad range of functions. Catheters are medical devices that can be inserted in the body to treat diseases or perform a surgical procedure. Cat ...

, they were the first to achieve airway separation on a human subject. In 1925 he became a member of the

German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (german: link=no, Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina – Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften), short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saal ...

. Many of his published works were included in Pflüger's " Archiv für die Gesammte Physiologie", in the "Archiv für Anatomie und Physiologie" and in " Virchow's Archiv".

Selected written works

* ''Über den Einfluß der Temperatur auf die Filtration von Eiweißlösungen durch tierische Membranen''. (dissertation), Berlin 1885. * ''Untersuchungen über die Respiration und Zirkulation bei Änderung des Druckes und des Sauerstoffs der Luft'' (Studies on

respiration Respiration may refer to: Biology * Cellular respiration, the process in which nutrients are converted into useful energy in a cell ** Anaerobic respiration, cellular respiration without oxygen ** Maintenance respiration, the amount of cellula ...

and

circulation Circulation may refer to: Science and technology * Atmospheric circulation, the large-scale movement of air * Circulation (physics), the path integral of the fluid velocity around a closed curve in a fluid flow field * Circulatory system, a bio ...

in regards to

air pressure Atmospheric pressure, also known as barometric pressure (after the barometer), is the pressure within the atmosphere of Earth. The standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a unit of pressure defined as , which is equivalent to 1013.25 millibars, ...

and

oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as we ...

), Berlin, 1895. * ''Untersuchungen über Blutcirculation beim Menschen'', (Studies on

blood circulation The blood circulatory system is a system of organs that includes the heart, blood vessels, and blood which is circulated throughout the entire body of a human or other vertebrate. It includes the cardiovascular system, or vascular system, tha ...

in humans), (1905) 197-311; with Hermann von Schrötter. * ''Lehrbuch der Physiologie des Menschen''. (Textbook of

human physiology The human body is the structure of a human being. It is composed of many different types of cells that together create tissues and subsequently organ systems. They ensure homeostasis and the viability of the human body. It comprises a head, ...

)

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

, 1909; with Nathan Zuntz. * ''Über den Stoffverbrauch bei der landwirtschaftlichen Arbeit'', (About energy consumption in agricultural work), Wiener Med. Wschr. 27 (1925) 1585-1590; with Hermann von Schrötter. * ''Über den Energieverbrauch bei musikalischer Betätigung'' (Study on energy consumption of musicians), (1926), with Hermann von Schrötter. * ''Physiologie des Höhenklimas''. (Physiology of altitude

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologica ...

), J. Springer, Berlin 1932.

References

* This article incorporates information based on a translation of an equivalent article at the

German Wikipedia The German Wikipedia (german: Deutschsprachige Wikipedia) is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia. Founded on March 16, 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia (after the English Wikipedia) ...

". German physiologists Scientists from Berlin 19th-century German Jews 1862 births 1937 deaths {{Germany-scientist-stub