Thomas August Theodor Poleck (November 10, 1821 – June 1, 1906) was a German

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

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English, is a healthcare professional who is knowledgeable about preparation, mechanism of action, clinical usage and legislation of medications in ...

born in

Neisse The Lusatian Neisse (; ; ; Upper Sorbian: ''Łužiska Nysa''; Lower Sorbian: ''Łužyska Nysa''), or Western Neisse, is a river in northern Central Europe.

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

. He studied at

Giessen Giessen, spelled in German (), is a town in the Germany, German States of Germany, state () of Hesse, capital of both the Giessen (district), district of Giessen and the Giessen (region), administrative region of Giessen. The population is appro ...

in the laboratory of

Justus von Liebig Justus ''Freiherr'' von Liebig (12 May 1803 – 18 April 1873) was a Germans, German scientist who made major contributions to the theory, practice, and pedagogy of chemistry, as well as to agricultural and biology, biological chemistry; he is ...

, and in 1846 travelled to Berlin, where he passed the state examination.Google Books
Apotheker-Zeitung, Volume 21 Afterwards he worked in his father's

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...

, and for several years (1853–1867), taught classes at a ''Realschule'' in Neisse. In 1867 he succeeded

Adolph Ferdinand Duflos Adolph Ferdinand Duflos (2 February 1802, in Artenay – 9 October 1889, in Annaberg) was a French-born, German pharmacist and chemist. Orphaned at a young age due to the loss of both parents, he was taken in by his uncle, a French military physi ...

as director of the pharmaceutical institute at the

University of Breslau A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

. In 1887/88 he was dean of his faculty and in 1888/89 served as rector of the university. His research dealt with

toxicology Toxicology is a scientific discipline, overlapping with biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and medicine, that involves the study of the adverse effects of chemical substances on living organisms and the practice of diagnosing and treating ex ...

issues,

food chemistry Food chemistry is the study of chemical processes and interactions of all biological and non-biological components of foods. The biological substances include such items as meat, poultry, lettuce, beer, milk as examples. It is similar to biochemi ...

, the study of

drinking water Drinking water or potable water is water that is safe for ingestion, either when drunk directly in liquid form or consumed indirectly through food preparation. It is often (but not always) supplied through taps, in which case it is also calle ...

and investigations associated with

dry rot Dry rot is wood decay caused by one of several species of fungi that digest parts of wood which give it strength and stiffness. It was previously used to describe any decay of cured wood in ships and buildings by a fungus which resulted in a ...

. He was a good friend of renowned chemist

Moritz Traube Moritz Traube (12 February 1826 – 28 June 1894) was a German chemist and universal private scholar. Traube worked on chemical, biochemical, medical, physiological, pathophysiological problems. He was engaged in hygienics, physical chemistry a ...

, who sometimes worked in Poleck's laboratory.

Selected works

* ''Beiträge zur Kenntniss der chemischen Veränderungen fliessender Gewässer'', 1869. * ''Chemische Analyse der Thermen von Warmbrunn am Fusse des Riesengebirges in Schlesien'', 1885.OCLC Classify
published works

References

* "This article incorporates translated text of an equivalent article at the

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

". German pharmacists 19th-century German chemists Chemists from the Kingdom of Prussia Academic staff of the University of Breslau University of Giessen alumni University of Halle alumni People from the Province of Silesia 1821 births 1906 deaths {{Germany-chemist-stub