Alfred Wilhelm Volkmann
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[[Image:Alfred Wilhelm Volkmann.jpg|thumb|Alfred Wilhelm Volkmann]]
'''Alfred Wilhelm Volkmann''' ([[1 July]] [[1801]] – [[21 April]] [[1877]]) was a [[Germany|German]] [[physiology|physiologist]], anatomist, and [[philosopher]]. He studied in [[Leipzig]] from [[1821]] and in [[1826]] he obtained his doctorate. In [[1828]] he was habilitated as Privatdozent at the [[University of Leipzig]]. It was there that he became professor extraordinary of zootomy in [[1834]]. In [[1837]] he went to [[University of Tartu|Dorpat]] as professor of physiology, [[pathology]] and [[semiotics]]. However, his residence in Dorpat was short: he left for [[University of Halle-Wittenberg|Halle]] as early as [[1843]]. In [[1854]] Volkmann assumed as well the teaching of anatomy, until [[1872]], when physiology was branched off and given to [[Julius Bernstein]]. In 1872, after his fiftieth doctoral jubilee he retired completely from his university activities.
Today, he is most remembered for his additions to the physiology of the nervous system and physiological optics. In [[1842]] he demonstrated that [[Autonomic nervous system|sympathetic nerves]] were largely made up of medullated fibres arising from [[Autonomic ganglion|sympathetic]] and spinal [[Ganglion|ganglia]]. However, he also delineated and identified numerous features of gross anatomy, including ''Volkmann's Channels''. Additionally, Volkmann was an [[evangelicalism|evangelical]] who opposed [[materialism]] and gave a number of speeches against the materialist assumption of identity between the body and mind.
[[Richard von Volkmann]], his son, became a distinguished surgeon.
==References==
*B.G. Firkin & J.A.Whitworth (1987). ''Dictionary of Medical Eponyms''. Parthenon Publishing. ISBN 1-85070-333-7
==External links==
* [http://vlp.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/people/data?id=per377 Short biography and bibliography] in the Virtual Laboratory of the [[Max Planck Institute for the History of Science]]
*[http://www.catalogus-professorum-halensis.de/volkmannalfredwilhelm.html Halle University's page (in German)]
*[http://www.whonamedit.com/doctor.cfm/1054.html Entry at Whonamedit.com biographical dictionary of medical eponyms]
{{Germany-med-bio-stub}}
{{BD|1801|1877|Volkmann, Alfred Wilhelm}}
[[Category:German physiologists]]
[[Category:People from the Kingdom of Saxony]]
[[Category:University of Leipzig alumni]]
[[Category:University of Leipzig faculty]]
[[Category:University of Tartu faculty]]
[[Category:University of Halle-Wittenberg faculty]]
[[de:Alfred Wilhelm Volkmann]]
[[et:Alfred Wilhelm Volkmann]]