Georg Ernst Stahl

Georg Ernst Stahl
Georg Ernst Stahl
Born	October 22, 1659 (1659-10-22) Ansbach
Died	May 24, 1734 (1734-05-25) Berlin
Nationality	German
Alma mater	University of Jena
Known for	phlogiston theory fermentation
Scientific career
Fields	chemistry
Institutions	University of Halle

Georg Ernst Stahl (October 22, 1659 – May 24, 1734) was a German chemist and physician.

He was born at Ansbach. Having graduated in medicine at the University of Jena in 1683, he became court physician to Duke Johann Ernst of Sachsen Weimar in 1687. From 1694 to 1716 he held the chair of medicine at Halle, and was then appointed physician to King Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia in Berlin. It was in Berlin that he died.

In chemistry he is chiefly remembered in part with the obsolete phlogiston theory, the essentials of which, however, he owed to J.J. Becher. He also propounded a view of fermentation which in some respects resembles that supported by Justus von Liebig a century and half later. In medicine he professed an animistic system, in opposition to the materialism of Hermann Boerhaave and Friedrich Hoffmann.

He hypothesized that all matter had a vital force, or a soul of sorts. He burned wood, and crediting the lower mass of the ashes compared to the original wood to the leaving of the vital force, because the wood had been killed in the process of burning. This theory was replaced by that of Antoine Lavoisier.

The most important of his numerous writings are Zymotechnia fundamentalis sive fermentalionis theoria generalis (1697), which contains the phlogistic hypothesis; Specimen Becherianum (1702); Experimenta, observationes, aniniadversiones ... chymicae et physicae (1731); Theoria medica vera (1707); Ars sanandi cum expectalione (1730).

References

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

• Carvallo, Sarah (2006). "[Stahl, Leibniz, Hoffmann and breathing]". Revue de synthèse / Centre international de synthèse. 127 (1): 43–75. PMID 17153053. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |laysummary=, |laydate=, and |laysource= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
• Magyar, László András (2005). "[Stahl on disease of courtiers]". Orvosi hetilap. 146 (48): 2468–9. PMID 16408388. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |laysummary=, |laydate=, and |laysource= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
• Helm, J (2000). "["Quod naturae ipsae sint morborum medicatrices." Hippocratism of Georg Ernst Stahl]". Medizinhistorisches Journal. 35 (3–4): 251–62. PMID 11210365. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |laysummary=, |laydate=, and |laysource= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
• Konert, J (1997). "Academic and practical medicine in Halle during the era of Stahl, Hoffmann, and Juncker". Caduceus (Springfield, Ill.). 13 (1): 23–38. PMID 9357114. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |laysummary=, |laydate=, and |laysource= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
• Gyözö, B (1996). "[Friedrich Hoffmann and Georg Ernst Stahl, classic representatives of baroque medicine]". Orvosi hetilap. 137 (10): 531–3. PMID 8713669. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |laysummary=, |laydate=, and |laysource= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
• Kaiser, W (1984). "[Georg Ernst Stahl (1659-1734)--on the 250th anniversary of his death 14 May 1984]". Zeitschrift für die gesamte innere Medizin und ihre Grenzgebiete. 39 (15): 371–6. PMID 6388168. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |laysummary=, |laydate=, and |laysource= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
• Bednarczyk, A (1981). "[Antimechanistic materialism in the 18th century philosophy of medicine. G. E. Stahl (1659-1734) and animism]". Archiwum historii medycyny. 44 (2): 163–87. PMID 7025787. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |laysummary=, |laydate=, and |laysource= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
• SCHULTHEISZ, E (1964). "[Georg Ernst Stahl.]". Orvosi hetilap. 105: 942–3. PMID 14159866. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |laysummary=, |laydate=, and |laysource= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
• HARMS, E (1960). "George Ernest STAHL (1660-1734)". The American journal of psychiatry. 117: 366–7. PMID 13711627. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |laysummary=, |laydate=, and |laysource= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)