author
Alexander Ecker
1816–1887
A 19th-century German anatomist and anthropologist, he explored the human brain, comparative anatomy, and the study of human variation. His work also helped build important scientific collections in Freiburg.
1 Audiobook
The anatomy of the frog
by Alexander Ecker
About the author
Born in Freiburg im Breisgau in 1816, Johann Alexander Ecker studied medicine at the University of Freiburg and earned his doctorate there in 1837. Early in his career he worked as a prosector in Freiburg and later in Heidelberg before returning to Freiburg, where he became a professor of anatomy and physiology.
He is remembered for work in anatomy, anthropology, and brain research. Sources on his life regularly note his studies of the cerebral convolutions, his writing on the anatomy of the frog, and his role in developing anthropological collections that supported research in his era.
Ecker died in 1887. For readers interested in the history of science, his career offers a window into a period when anatomy, physiology, and anthropology were closely intertwined in German university life.