Up for auction a RARE “Pasteur of the 20th Century” Karl F Meyer Signed 3X5 Card.
ES-4900
Karl
Friedrich Meyer (19
May 1884 – 27 April 1974) was an American scientist of Swiss origin. He was one of the most prodigious
scientists in many areas of infectious diseases in man and animals, the ecology of pathogens, epidemiology and public health[1-6]. Some called him the “Pasteur of the 20th century”.
Meyer was born in Basel (Switzerland) to Theodor Meyer,
1852–1934, (a „Meyer zum Pfeil”), international cigar merchant, and Sophie, née
Lichtenhahn, teacher, 1857-1936. Karl Friedrich had two younger sisters. Meyer
began his studies in 1902 at the University of Basel and
soon moved to the University of Zurich where
he concentrated on biology, zoology, histology, and laboratory techniques. He
was greatly fostered by Heinrich
Zangger, professor of comparative anatomy (and
later the first professor of Medical Law in
Zurich), who sent him to work with leading scientists in Munich and Bern. Meyer was deeply impressed and influenced by
Zangger's social consciousness. He received a doctorate of veterinary medicine
in 1909 from the University of Zurich. – Later, in 1924, Meyer spent a
sabbatical leave from the University of California in
Zurich and obtained a Ph.D. in Bacteriology from the University of Zurich. Meyer
found his first employment in South Africa. The Transvaal Department of
Agriculture in the (then) Union of South Africa had
just established a large, special Institute devoted to research in public health
and farm animal diseases, the latter being important for the economy of the
country. The first director of the institute was another Swiss
veterinarian, Arnold Theiler (father
of the Nobel prize winner Max Theiler), famous for having successfully combated the
so-called rinderpest, African horse sickness, and
many other viral and bacterial infections of livestock. Theiler employed Meyer
as pathologist (i.e. to study and diagnose diseases by
examination of organs, tissues, body fluids, and whole bodies). In this
function he autopsied hundreds of animals and developed outstanding dexterity
in doing this.
In addition, Meyer had to develop vaccines, one against rabies, another to protect cattle against pleuro-pneumonia, a disease with devastating economic
consequences for the farmers. In these studies he discovered a hitherto unknown
type of the germ (now known as a mycoplasma) causing the disease. Moreover, he was able to
answer one important question as to the lifecycle of the parasite causing
African East Coast fever. And he
showed that cattle could be protected against the illness.
Meyer and Theiler both were strong personalities who did not get along
too well. Shortly after returning to Switzerland, Meyer was offered a position
as an assistant professor at the Veterinary School of the University of Pennsylvania in
Philadelphia. Meyer had to teach pathology and comparative pathology at the
Veterinary School of Pennsylvania. He soon got into arguments with the Dean
over his rough dealing with ill-prepared students – criticism that was fell
founded, however. Then, the faculty promoted Meyer to full professor, and put
him in charge of the diagnostic section of the Laboratory and Experimental
Farm, Pennsylvania Livestock Sanitary Board. – There, he worked on glanders, a bacterial disease in horses, mules, etc. which
first affects the mucous membranes. It may
be lethal, and is also dangerous to humans. – He also helped elucidating the
transmission of the bacteria causing a contagious abortion disease of cattle
and also infecting humans via unsterilized milk, causing (possibly lethal) fever. This is
the so-called brucellosis, a disease Meyer continued
working on later. – Meyer never just stayed in the laboratory. He wanted to put
his expertise to practical use, to the benefit of the people. So he soon
consulted with the Milk Commission working on regulation to secure milk
quality. In 1914 Meyer changed to the University of California (San
Francisco and Berkeley) where
he stayed for the rest of his life. – He was appointed to Prof. of Bacteriology
and Protozoology and taught medical bacteriology at the Berkeley Medical
School. He produced a textbook on pathology, collaborating with Frederick P. Gay and G.Y. Rusk. Starting
in 1915, he worked at the George Williams Hooper Foundation Institute for
Medical Research, University of California, devoted to medical research (whose
first director was George H. Whipple, the Nobelist). At first, Meyer was acting
director, and soon succeeded Whipple as director of the Hooper. Meyer’s
personality, his enormous knowledge combined with his energy and extraordinary
drive were just what was needed to tackle the many pioneering tasks. He
contributed significantly to the understanding, treatment, and prevention of
many infectious (and other) diseases. His contributions and achievements were
founded on his holistic, ecological approach. He was a generalist, meaning that
he always concurrently concentrated on the interactions and interdependence of
the factors involved, as they are: (i) the disease agents (biology, habitat,
hosts, transmission to man, infectiousness, etc.); (ii) disease in man and
animals (diagnosis, therapies, pathology, epidemiology); (iii) public health;
and (iv) education. His 1930s Public Health curriculum at the University of California played
a large role in the creation of the UC Berkeley
School of Public Health.