Michael Bernhard Valentini (26 November 1657 – 18 March 1729) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

doctor Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles * ...

and a collector. After obtaining his doctorate in 1686 in

Giessen Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 univer ...

he became Professor of Medicine in that city and personal physician to the

Margrave Margrave was originally the medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or of a kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain feudal families in the E ...

of Assia. He had an important Cabinet of curiosities and was the author of ''Museorum Museum'', the first study of collections in Europe. In 1720 he published a work on the

comparative anatomy Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of different species. It is closely related to evolutionary biology and phylogeny (the evolution of species). The science began in the classical era, continuing in ...

vertebrates Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () ( chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, wi ...

. He was elected a Member of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, r ...

on 10 November 1715 and was also a Member of the Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher (Leopoldina) and the

Prussian Academy of Sciences The Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences (german: Königlich-Preußische Akademie der Wissenschaften) was an academy established in Berlin, Germany on 11 July 1700, four years after the Prussian Academy of Arts, or "Arts Academy," to which "Berlin ...

in Berlin.

Partial list of publications

* 1699 : * 1702 : * 1709 : * 1714 : ''Museum Museorum'' full title ''Museum Museorum, oder vollständige Schau-Bühne aller Materialien und Specereyen, nebst deren natürlichen Beschreibung... Aus andern Material-Kunst- und Naturalien-Kammern, Oost- und West-Indischen Reiss-Beschreibungen'' Frankfurt, heirs of Johann David Zunner and Johann Adam Jungen. Volume 1 deals with descriptions of plants, animals, minerals and metals and their commercial and medical uses. Volume 2 covers rocks and minerals, fossils, tropical plants, shells, unicorns and monstrosities and has a section on coins. A separate appendix, ''Ost-Indianische Send-Schreiben'', is a compilation from

Georg Eberhard Rumphius Georg Eberhard Rumphius (originally: Rumpf; baptized c. 1 November 1627 – 15 June 1702) was a Germans, German-born botanist employed by the Dutch East India Company in what is now eastern Indonesia, and is best known for his work ''Herbarium Am ...

Engelbert Kaempfer Engelbert Kaempfer (16 September 16512 November 1716) was a German naturalist, physician, explorer and writer known for his tour of Russia, Persia, India, Southeast Asia, and Japan between 1683 and 1693. He wrote two books about his travels. '' ...

, Willem ten Rhijne, Andreas Cleyer and other naturalists on the rarities, mostly botanical, of the

East Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies), is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The Indies refers to various lands in the East or the Eastern hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found in and aroun ...

. Volume 3 is devoted to experiments in physics and natural science. * 1719 : ''Viridarium reformatum, seu regnum vegetabilis Das ist eingerichtet und-Neu-buch vollständiges Kräuter, Worinnen alfo noch nicht geschehen Weise, als Kräutern Vegetabilien CRF, Sträuchen, Bäumen, Bluhmen Erd-und anderer Art Gewachsen, Krafft und beschreiben werden Würckung dergestalter , dass man dieses Werck statt einer Botanischen Bibliotheca haben, jedes zu seiner rechten Haupt Kraut-Art bringen, dessen Nutzen auch in der deutlich Artzney umständlich und finden'' ... (Anton Heinscheidt, Frankfurt am Main). * 1719 : -These two volumes contain many illustrated plates from various botanical works for the ''Florilegium novum'' and ''Florilegium and renovatum auctum'' of Johannes Theodorus de Bry (1561–1623) and others. * 1720 : ''Amphitheatrum zootomicum'' (Frankfurt am Main). * 1742 :

References

* Robert Mortimer Gascoigne (1987). A Chronology of the History of Science, 1450–1900, Garland (New York): xi + 585 pp ()

Online sources

Museum museorum (digitized by Lund University Library)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Valentini, Michael Bernhard German naturalists 17th-century German physicians 18th-century German physicians 1657 births 1729 deaths 18th-century German writers 18th-century German male writers