Rudolf Magnus
Rudolf Magnus | |
---|---|
Born | 2 September 1873 |
Died | 25 July 1927 |
Nationality | German |
Awards | Cameron Prize for Therapeutics of the University of Edinburgh (1925) |
Scientific career | |
Fields |
Rudolf Magnus (2 September 1873,
Had he lived, he likely would have been awarded the Nobel Prize for his work on animal reflexes. The authors of Nobel, the Man and his Prizes by H.Schück et al., edited by the Nobel Foundation (2nd ed. Amsterdam, 1962, p. 311) wrote of Magnus and his co-worker De Kleyn: ‘The examiner [1927] declared that the work done by Magnus and De Kleyn clearly deserved a prize, and the prospects for an award seemed most favourable when Magnus unexpectedly died.’ For his life and work see, Rudolf Magnus, Physiologist and Pharmacologist: A Biography (2002, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences) by his son, Dr.Otto Magnus.
Magnus had five children, Karl (1903-1989) lung specialist; Margarete (Gretl)(1905-1968)who worked as his secretary and translator; Dorothea who died aged 11; Erica (1909-1991) architect; and Otto (1913-2014) neurologist.
Magnus is most widely known for his work as a physiologist. His book Körperstellung ("Posture").,[2][3] a study of functional neurology, is his best known work.
Academic work
In 1901, while in Germany, Magnus discovered the
In 1925, Magnus was awarded the Cameron Prize for Therapeutics of the University of Edinburgh.
The pharmacological research of Rudolf Magnus was focussed on the effect of medication on the
Magnus was very fond of ice skating and would give his whole laboratory staff time off when the temperature was below freezing.
Rudolf Magnus Institute
Originally the pharmacology department in Utrecht was housed in an old hospital for victims of the plague (built in 1567), named Leeuwenbergh. Magnus convinced the Rockefeller Foundation to give him the money to build a new laboratory. In 1926, Magnus laid the first stone for this new institute in Utrecht on the Vondellaan, named Nieuw Leeuwenbergh. In 1968, David de Wied renamed the building the Rudolf Magnus Institute. Due to his death in 1927 Rudolf Magnus never worked there himself. Today the building is no longer in use as a laboratory.
The Rudolf Magnus Institute for Neuroscience still exists and is one of the research institutes of the University Medical Center Utrecht, where neuroscientific research is performed. The Anatomical Museum in Utrecht houses Rudolf Magnus' archive.
References
- ISSN 0160-9327.
- ^ Körperstellung : experimentell-physiologische Untersuchungen über die einzelnen bei der Körperstellung in Tätigkeit tretenden Reflexe, über ihr Zusammenwirken und ihre Störungen / von R. Magnus. Mit 263 Abbildungen. Berlin : Julius Springer, 1924. Description: xiii, 740 p
- ^ Body posture = Körperstellung : experimental-physiological investigations of the reflexes involved in body posture, their cooperation and disturbances / by R. Magnus ; edited, with a preface by A. Van Harreveld. [New Delhi] : Amerind ; Springfield, Va.[198-?] Description : xxiv, 801 p
- ^ "The action of pituitary extracys of the kidney", Journal of Physiology, Cambridge, 1901, 27: ix-x.
External links
- Rudolf Magnus Institute
- Animal Posture - Proceedings of the Royal Society of London (1925)
- Some Results of Studies on the Physiology of Posture - The Lancet (1926)