Johann Sperling

Johann Sperling (1603 to 1658) was a German physician, zoologist and physicist who taught at the University of Wittenberg. Born in Zeuchfeld, the son of a minister, he studied at Schulpforta and then at Wittenberg, where he took his master's degree in 1625. He first studied theology but turned to medical and physical studies, working with Daniel Sennert and taking part in the dispute with Johann Freitag in a treatise on the diseases of the whole substance. He was appointed professor of physics in 1634, served four times as dean of the faculty of philosophy and was twice rector of the university. He is remembered as one of the first to treat zoology as a natural science, and his handbook Zoologia physica was published after his death in 1661. Among his other writings are works on the formation of the human being in the womb and on physical anthropology. He died in 1658 and was buried in the Schlosskirche.