Jan Swammerdam - Jan Swammerdam

Dutch naturalist and anatomist. Born in Amsterdam. Influenced by his father, a pharmacist with a hobby of collecting things, he had a strong sense of curiosity from an early age. He entered the University of Leiden to study medicine (1661), and his fellow students were astonished by the insects he collected. He also went to France and debated Cartesian mechanics. This influence was reflected in his explanation of the movement of the lungs, and he became a doctor of medicine for his research on breathing (1667). He also proved that the shape of a muscle changes but the volume does not change during contraction, and denied the theory that substances flow into muscles. However, his main achievements were through microscopic observations, and he is particularly famous for his discovery of red blood cells (1658) before entering university. He is also said to be the father of entomology, and dissected many species of insects and described their reproduction and life cycles. These works were not well known during his lifetime, but were compiled by Boerhaave after his death and published as the Bible of Nature, Biblia naturae , in two volumes (1737-1738).

[Masayuki Obayashi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

オランダの博物学者、解剖学者。アムステルダムの生まれ。薬剤師で物集めの趣味をもつ父の影響を受け、幼いころより好奇心が旺盛(おうせい)であった。医学を学ぶためにライデン大学に入学した（1661）が、彼の収集した昆虫は学友たちを驚かせたという。フランスにも出かけ、デカルト主義的機械論について議論もした。その影響は肺の運動の説明に反映され、この呼吸の研究で医学博士となった（1667）。また筋肉の収縮においては形は変化するが体積は変化しないことを証明し、筋肉への物質の流入説を否定した。しかし彼のおもな業績は顕微鏡観察によるもので、とくに大学入学以前の赤血球の発見（1658）が有名である。また昆虫学の祖ともいわれ、多くの種の昆虫を解剖し、その生殖法や生活史を記載した。これらの研究は生前あまり知られることがなかったが、死後ブールハーフェによりまとめられ『自然の聖書』Biblia naturae2巻（1737～1738）として出版された。

［大林雅之］

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