Johann Carl Gehler (17 May 1732 – 6 May 1796) was a German physician, mineralogist and anatomist.
Born 17 May 1732 in
Görlitz
Görlitz (; pl, Zgorzelec, hsb, Zhorjelc, cz, Zhořelec, :de:Ostlausitzer Mundart, East Lusatian dialect: ''Gerlz'', ''Gerltz'', ''Gerltsch'') is a town in the Germany, German state of Saxony. It is located on the Lusatian Neisse River, and ...
, Gehler studied medicine from 1751 to 1758 at the University of Leipzig, where he was a pupil of physician and
botanist
Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...
Christian Gottlieb Ludwig
Christian Gottlieb Ludwig (30 April 1709 – 7 May 1773) was a German physician and botanist born in Brieg, Silesia (now Brzeg, Poland). He was the father of physician/naturalist Christian Friedrich Ludwig (1757–1823) and of Christian L. Ludw ...
. While a student at Leipzig, he furthered his interest in natural sciences, publishing the mineralogical treatise, ''De characteribus fossilium externis'' (1757), as a result. Following graduation, he continued his education by studying mineralogy in Freiberg and
obstetrics
Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgi ...
in
Strasbourg
Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...
as a student of
Johann Jakob Fried
Johann Jakob Fried (21 April 1689, Strasbourg – 3 September 1769, Strasbourg) was a German obstetrician. He is sometimes referred to as the "Father of German midwifery".ADB: Gehler, Johann Karl In:
Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie
''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' (ADB, german: Universal German Biography) is one of the most important and comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language.
It was published by the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Aca ...
(ADB). Band 8, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1878, S. 498 f.
After his return to Leipzig, he served as a lecturer in mineralogy, and in the meantime, maintained a successful medical practice, of which, he specialized in midwifery. In 1763 he was named an associate professor of botany at the university. Later on at Leipzig, he successively held professorships in physiology (1773–1781), anatomy and
surgery
Surgery ''cheirourgikē'' (composed of χείρ, "hand", and ἔργον, "work"), via la, chirurgiae, meaning "hand work". is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a person to investigate or treat a pat ...
(1781–1784), pathology (1784–1789) and therapy (1789–1796). From 1789 to 1796, he served as dean of the medical faculty. He was a member of the ''Ökonomischen Gesellschaft''.Catalogus Professorum lipsiensium Biographical and bibliographical sketch
Published works
* ''De characteribus fossilium externis'', Leipzig 1757; later translated into German by Abraham Gottlob Werner as ''Abhandlung über die äußeren Kennzeichen der Fossilien'' (1774) – Treatise on the external characteristic of fossils.ADB: Werner, Abraham Gottlob at
Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie
''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' (ADB, german: Universal German Biography) is one of the most important and comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language.
It was published by the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Aca ...
* ''Herrn Anton Baumé. Erläuterte Experimental-Chemie'' Leipzig 1775 –
Antoine Baumé
Antoine Baumé (26 February 172815 October 1804) was a French chemist.
Life
He was born at Senlis. He was apprenticed to the chemist Claude Joseph Geoffroy, and in 1752 was admitted a member of the École de Pharmacie, where in the same year he ...
. Illustrated Experimental Chemistry, translated from French into German by Gehler.
* , Leipzig 1786.
* ''Kleine Schriften, die Entbindungskunst betreffend'', Leipzig 1798 (edited after his death by
Karl Gottlob Kühn
Karl Gottlob Kühn (12 July 1754, in Spergau – 19 June 1840, in Leipzig) was a German physician and medical historian.
He studied medicine at the University of Leipzig, earning his doctorate in 1783 with the dissertation thesis "De forcibus obs ...