Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 2005

JULIUS WOLFF (1836-1902) Das Gesetz der Transformation der Knochen. August Hirschwald 1892 xii [2] 152 pp., 12 plates. 41.4 cm.

Wolff, a native of West Prussia, studied medicine at Berlin where he received his degree in 1860. Having written his student thesis on bone growth, he continued those studies when he began private practice at Berlin the following year. He was invited to join the faculty at the University of Berlin in 1868, was made professor of orthopedic surgery in 1884, and director of the orthopedic clinic in 1890. In the present work Wolff set forth his law of bone transformation, in which he stated that changes in a bone's use are followed by changes in its internal structure as well as in its ability to withstand new stresses, all in accordance with mathematical laws. The twelve plates with their life-sized specimens of bone sections depict in detail the subcortical structure of bone and show how the lines of development have followed a mathematical formula depending upon the particular function of the bone.

Cited references: Garrison-Morton 641

Gift of John Martin, M.D.