Nationality German Children Rudolf Fick Fields Physiology
Biophysics Name Adolf Fick Siblings Franz Ludwig Fick | Alma mater University of Marburg Role Physician Nephews Adolf Gaston Eugen Fick Education University of Marburg | |
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Institutions University of Zurich
University of Wurzburg Died August 21, 1901, Blankenberge, Belgium Parents Firedrich Fick, Nanni Sponsel | ||
Doctoral students Johann Jakob Muller Doctoral advisor Franz Ludwig Fick | ||
Adolf Eugen Fick (3 September 1829 – 21 August 1901) was a German-born physician and physiologist.
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Early life and education
Fick began his work in the formal study of mathematics and physics before realising an aptitude for medicine. He then earned his doctorate in medicine from the University of Marburg in 1851. As a fresh medical graduate, he began his work as a prosector.
Career
In 1855, he introduced Fick's laws of diffusion, which govern the diffusion of a gas across a fluid membrane. In 1870, he was the first to measure cardiac output, using what is now called the Fick principle.
Fick managed to double-publish his law of diffusion, as it applied equally to physiology and physics. His work led to the development of the direct Fick method for measuring cardiac output.
Anedoctical
Fick's nephew, Adolf Gaston Eugen Fick, invented the contact lens.
