Christoph Heinrich Pfaff (2 March 1773,

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

– 24 April 1852,

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

Holstein Holstein (; ; ; ; ) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider (river), Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost States of Germany, state of Germany. Holstein once existed as the German County of Holstein (; 8 ...

) was a German

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

and

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

Biography

He graduated as a physician at the Karlsschule in Stuttgart in 1793, where he studied under

Carl Friedrich Kielmeyer Carl Friedrich Kielmeyer (22 October 1765 – 14 August 1844) was a German biologist and naturalist born in Bebenhausen, today part of the city of Tübingen. He was a pioneer of '' Naturphilosophie'', helped to establish organic chemistry (''Pfl ...

and became good friends with

Georges Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, baron Cuvier (23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier (; ), was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuv ...

. He then went to

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

, where he published the results of his galvanic inquiries in ''Ueber thierische Electricität und Reizbarkeit'' ("On animal electricity and susceptibility to stimulus"). In 1797 he became an associate professor at the

University of Kiel Kiel University, officially the Christian Albrecht University of Kiel, (, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a public research university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in 1665 as the ''Academia Holsator ...

, and in 1802 was made professor of chemistry, physics and medicine there with rank at the same time as a member of the medical faculty.ADB:Pfaff, Christoph Heinrich
In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Band 25, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1887, S. 582–587. He then directed his attention particularly to

pharmaceutical chemistry Medicinal or pharmaceutical chemistry is a scientific discipline at the intersection of chemistry and pharmacy involved with drug design, designing and developing pharmaceutical medication, drugs. Medicinal chemistry involves the identification, ...

, and was thus led to the composition of his most important work, ''System der Materia Medica nach chemischen Principien'' ("System of

materia medica ''Materia medica'' ( lit.: 'medical material/substance') is a Latin term from the history of pharmacy for the body of collected knowledge about the therapeutic properties of any substance used for healing (i.e., medications). The term derives f ...

using chemical principles", 1808–24). Among other writings of his are: * ''Ueber und gegen den thierichen Magnetismus'' ("

Animal magnetism Animal magnetism, also known as mesmerism, is a theory invented by German doctor Franz Mesmer in the 18th century. It posits the existence of an invisible natural force (''Lebensmagnetismus'') possessed by all living things, including humans ...

exposed and opposed", 1807). * ''Handbuch der analytischen Chemie'' ("Handbook of

analytical chemistry Analytical skill, Analytical chemistry studies and uses instruments and methods to Separation process, separate, identify, and Quantification (science), quantify matter. In practice, separation, identification or quantification may constitute t ...

," 1824–25). * ''Der Electromagnetismus'' (1824). * ''Parallele der chemischen Theorie und der voltaischen Contacttheorie der galvanischen Kette'' ("Parallels between chemical theory and the voltaic contact theory of galvanic chains", 1845). His brothers

Johann Friedrich Pfaff Johann Friedrich Pfaff (sometimes spelled Friederich; 22 December 1765 – 21 April 1825) was a German mathematician. He was described as one of Germany's most eminent mathematicians during the 19th century. He was a precursor of the German school ...

and

Johann Wilhelm Andreas Pfaff Johann Wilhelm Andreas Pfaff (5 December 1774 – 26 June 1835) was professor of pure and applied mathematics successively at Dorpat, Nuremberg, Würzburg and Erlangen. He was a brother of Johann Friedrich Pfaff Johann Friedrich Pfaff (sometimes ...

were noted mathematicians.

References

* ;Attribution *

External links

Christian Heinrich Pfaff's (1813
''Ueber Newton's Farbenteorie, Herrn von Goethe's Farbenlehre, und den chemischen Gegensatz der Farben''
– digital facsimile from the

Linda Hall Library The Linda Hall Library is a privately endowed American library of science, engineering and technology located in Kansas City, Missouri, on the grounds of a urban arboretum. It claims to be the "largest independently funded public library of sc ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pfaff, Christian Heinrich 1773 births 1852 deaths 19th-century German physicians 19th-century German chemists 19th-century German physicists German physiologists Academic staff of the University of Kiel Physicians from Stuttgart People educated at the Karlsschule Stuttgart 18th-century German physicians 18th-century German chemists