Max Rubner
| Max Rubner | |
|---|---|
|
Max Rubner | |
| 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] His best-known research centres on what he termed the "isodynamic law" of calories (demonstrated in 1873, and published a decade later), according to which the form of human calorie intake is irrelevant to its effect on energy balance, often paraphrased as "a calorie is a calorie".[2] In 1902, Rubner expressed his belief that this was over-simplistic, stating "the effect of specific nutritional substances upon the glands" may modify the effect of specific foods on energy balance,[3] a view that is now increasingly accepted.[4][5]
In 1883 Rubner introduced the "surface hypothesis", which stated that the metabolic rate of birds and mammals that maintain a steady body temperature is roughly proportional to their body surface area.[6]
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.
References
- ↑ Haroun RI, Rigamonti D, Tamargo RJ (December 2000). "Recurrent artery of Heubner: Otto Heubner's description of the artery and his influence on pediatrics in Germany". Journal of Neurosurgery 93 (6): 1084–8. doi:10.3171/jns.2000.93.6.1084. PMID 11117858.
- ↑ Rubner 1854-1932 (obituary) inJournal of Nutrition 1952
- ↑ Taubes, G. Good Calories, Bad Calories (2007) Chapter 16
- ↑ AC Buchholz, DA Schoeller Is a calorie a calorie ? Am J Clin Nutrition 2004
- ↑ A H Manninen Metabolic advantage of low-carbohydrate diets: a calorie is still not a calorie and refs therein, Am J Clin Nutr June 2006 vol. 83 no. 6 1442-1443
- ↑ Eckert animal physiology by David J. Randall, Warren W. Burggren, Kathleen French, Roger Eckert
Further reading
- "Max Rubner--1854-1932. Energy physiologist". JAMA 194 (1): 86–7. October 1965. doi:10.1001/jama.194.1.86. PMID 5318322.
- KNOWLES HC (1957). "Max Rubner: 1854-1932". Diabetes 6 (4): 369–71. doi:10.2337/diab.6.4.369. PMID 13447770.
External links
- Rubner, Max (1854-1932) -- from Eric Weisstein's World of Scientific Biography at scienceworld.wolfram.com
- Short biography and bibliography in the Virtual Laboratory of the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science
- (German)
- Animal Physiology, Energetics and Metabolism
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