World of Genetics on Johann Friedrich Theodor (Fritz) Müller
Fritz Mü ller was among the earliest German scientists to support Charles Darwin's (1809-1882) theory of evolution. Born the son of a Protestant minister in Windischholzhausen, near Erfurt, Germany, Müller was always predisposed toward science. His maternal grandfather was the prominent apothecary and chemist, Johann Bartholomäus Trommsdorff (1770-1837). The whole family shared a lively interest in natural history.
After attending the Erfurt Gymnasium from 1835 to 1840, where he became fluent in six languages, Müller studied pharmacy in Naumburg. In 1841 he switched to zoology, first at the University of Berlin, then at the University of Greifswald, then again at Berlin, where he received his Ph.D. in 1844 with a dissertation on leeches directed by the famous physiologist and comparative anatomist, Johannes Peter Müller (1801-1858), who was not related to him. He taught unsuccessfully at the Erfurt Gymnasium in 1845, then decided to study medicine. Having satisfied all the requirements for the M.D. at Greifswald by 1849, he was nevertheless refused the degree because of his support for leftist rebels in the 1848 Revolutions.
Discouraged by German culture and politics, and attracted by the tremendous opportunities for naturalist field work in South America, Müller moved in 1852 to Blumenau, Brazil. He farmed until 1856, taught mathematics in Desterro until 1867, held several civil service posts until 1876, then received a stimulating appointment as traveling naturalist for the National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro. All the while he conducted zoological research and published scientific papers, especially in botany and entomology. His book, Für Darwin (1864) provided cogent empirical support for Darwin's theories, and prompted Darwin to initiate a fruitful scientific correspondence with Müller that lasted until Darwin's death.
Müller's most important scientific contribution was his theory of mimicry, still known as "Müllerian mimicry," which superseded "Batesian mimicry" shortly after he published it in a series of articles from 1878 to 1883. According to the theory of Henry Walter Bates (1825-1892), the model/mimic relationship is one-to-one, that is, to ensure its own protection, one harmless, weak, or edible species imitates the appearance of one dangerous, strong, or inedible species. Müller accepted this, but added that there also exists a multilateral, mutually protective relationship among several unrelated mimics of the same model, so that, when a predator kills a mimic, all other species mimicking that model are subsequently protected.
A modest, amiable gentleman, Müller was still in trouble nearly his entire life because he held fast to his liberal political and social views in the face of conservative forces such as the Prussian Ministry of Education, the Society of Jesus, the Brazilian government, and majority public opinion. His last years were not happy. The National Museum fired him and denied his pension in 1891. He was imprisoned and court-martialed by Brazilian insurgents in 1894. Although the deaths of his wife and daughter nearly deprived him of his will to live, Müller continued to work until he died in Blumenau.
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