Swammerdam, Jan, << SVAHM uhr `dahm,` yahn >> (1637-1680), was a Dutch anatomist and zoologist. He pioneered in the use of the microscope to study minute structures within animals. He was the first to observe red blood cells.
Swammerdam’s observations on the life history, anatomy, and development of insects led to a system of insect classification that is still considered useful. This system is based on the different patterns of metamorphosis found in various types of insects. Metamorphosis is the change in form that many insects undergo to become adults (see Metamorphosis ). Swammerdam also made important observations on how nerves and muscles function.
Swammerdam was born on Feb. 12, 1637, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He studied medicine, and soon began his anatomical studies. Much of his most important work was not published until more than 50 years after his death. But his Historia Insectorum, a study of the metamorphoses of insects, the effects on animals of the deprivation of blood, and similar subjects was published in 1669. Bijbel der Nature, a report on his observations of red blood corpuscles in animals, was published in 1737. Swammerdam died on Feb. 15 or 17, 1680.
