Petrus To camp

Petrus , Pierre or Peter Camper is a doctor, naturalist and biologist Dutch, born the May 11th 1722 with Leyde and dead the April 7th 1789 with $the Hague.

Raise shining, it studies sciences, philosophy and the drawing. Among its professors, it is necessary to announce Pieter van Musschenbroek (1692-1761) and Willem Jacob 'S Gravesande (1688-1742) for the Physique and the Mathématiques, Hermann Boerhaave (1668-1738) or Hieronym David Gaubius (1705-1780) for the Médecine.

It obtains a title of doctor of medicine at 24 years. He travels then in Europe and visits the Germany, the England, the France and the Suisse. The university of Franeker appoints it professor of Philosophie, Anatomie and Chirurgie in 1750.

In 1755, it settles with Amsterdam and occupies a pulpit of anatomy and surgery, supplemented later by a pulpit of medicine.

It withdraws in 1760 to be devoted to the scientific research. But three years later, it takes the pulpit of anatomy, surgery and Botanique at the university of Groningue before withdrawing in 1773.

It continues its research while going on frequent journeys through Europe. It also takes share with the political life of its country and was member of the Council of State of the United Provinces.

Among its work, it is necessary to quote those bearing on the Ostéologie of the Oiseau X or on the anatomy of the Orang-outan (it shows that it does not act of anything a degenerated human being as one thought it then but well of a species different from ours). It publishes a great quantity of memory on the most varied subjects: hearing at the Poisson S, the best possible form for the shoes, the Rage, the construction of the dams, etc

Georges Cuvier (1769-1832) will have a hard judgment on its work: Camper carried, so to speak while passing, the glance of the genius on a crowd of interesting objects, but almost all its work was only outlines .

He is also the author of the theory of the facial angle which is measured according to two lines: the first goes from the hole of the ear to the upper jaw, the other on the basis of the face to the upper jaw. According to him, the ancient statues present an angle of 90°, the face of Europeans of 80°, blacks of 70°, orang-outang of 58°. Its research will be shown by others like Cuvier, Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1772-1844) or Paul Broca (1824-1880). This type of theory, aiming at establishing scientifically differences between the human races is typical natural history of the XVIII {{E}} and XIX {{E}} centuries

To camp discovered the presence of the air in the interior cavities of the skeleton of the birds, and was one of the first to be dealt of comparative anatomy and paleontology. It is especially known to have tried to measure the degree of intelligence by more hearing less opening to the facial angle.

It composed a great number of treaties and memories on medicine, the surgery, physiology.

Principal the cities at the 19th century by the Dictionnaire Bouillet are:

Demonstrations anatomicx-pathologicœ , Amsterdam, 1760 - 1762;
Essay on the differences of the features of the face ;
Speech on art to judge passions of the man by the features of his face ;
Essay on the natural varieties of the mankind .

Hendrik Jansen published a translation of its Œuvres on the natural history , physiology and the comparative anatomy, 1803, 3 volumes, in-8.

To camp was associated French Academy of sciences: Nicolas de Condorcet and Felix Vicq d' Azyr composed its Éloge .

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