| Max Rubner | |
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Max Rubner
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| Born | 2 June 1854 Munich |
| Died | 27 April 1932 Berlin |
| Nationality | German |
| Fields | physiology |
| Institutions | University of Marburg |
| Alma mater | University of Munich |
| Doctoral advisor | Adolf von Baeyer Carl von Voit |
| Known for | metabolism |
Max Rubner [ru:bner] (2 June 1854, Munich – 27 April 1932, Berlin) was a German physiologist and hygienist.
He studied at the University of Munich under Adolf von Baeyer (1835-1917) and Carl von Voit (1831-1908). Afterwards he taught as a professor at the University of Marburg and the Robert Koch Institute of Hygiene at the University of Berlin. Rubner was co-founder of the Kaiser-Wilhelm Institut für Arbeitsphysiologie, and became its director in 1913.
Rubner is remembered for his research in metabolism, energy physiology, hygiene and dietary thermogenesis. With Otto Heubner (1843-1926), he performed important studies involving energy metabolism in infancy.[1] In 1883 he introduced the "surface hypothesis", which stated that the metabolic rate of birds and mammals maintaining a steady body temperature is roughly proportional to their body surface area.[2]
Max Rubner is also known for his "rate-of-living theory", which proposed that a slow metabolism increases an animal's longevity. Rubner's observation was that larger animals outlived smaller animals, and the metabolic rates of larger animals were slower pro rata. The theory might have been inspired by the Industrial Revolution, the logic that the more a machine is worked, the sooner it will wear out.