Born 2 Jun 1854; died 27 Apr 1932 at age 77.

#German #physiologist who showed the available #energy content of #food was the same whether the material was consumed #organically or merely #burned (1894).

He determined that no single type of food produced energy, but that the body variously made ready use of #carbohydrates, #fats and #proteins.

In 1883, he used #geometry to compare #metabolic rates of animals of different sizes. Thus, if an animal is N times taller than another, it has surface area N2 greater and mass N3 greater. Thus total metabolic rate (dependent on #heatloss over #surfacearea, N2), would be proportional to M2/3. Specific metabolic rate (the energy burnt M2/3, per unit of mass, M) would be proportional to M1/3.

It took 50 years before this simple explanation was improved.

www.masterdoctorclinic.com