The scientific career of the zoologist Max Wilhelm Carl Weber (1852—1937)

Abstract

It is shown that the pinnacle of Max Weber’s scientific career was the organization and leadership of the Siboga Expedition to the former Netherlands East Indies (now Indonesia)in the years 1899—1900. Before that time, as Professor of both General and Special Zoology at the University of Amsterdam, he had devoted his research mainly to the anatomy of mammals, which resulted in the fundamental reference work Die Säugetiere published in first edition in 1904. Just before his departure with the Siboga Expedition Weber was appointed Extraordinary Professor of Special Zoology in Amsterdam. This gave him more time to edit the results of the Siboga Expedition and for taxonomic studies, especially on the fishes of the Indo- Australian Archipelago. Nevertheless he kept a keen interest in generalzoology, which resulted in his extensive contribution to the modern textbook Lehrbuch der Biologiefür Hochschulen co-authored by Moritz Nussbaum and Georg Karsten, published in first edition in 1911. Weber retired in 1921 and by the time he died in 1937 about 95% of the scientific results of the Siboga Expedition had been published - an outstanding achievement.