Biographical Sketch: Georg Hermann von Meyer (1815–1892)

This biographical sketch on Georg Hermann von Meyer highlights the interactions in the 1860s that von Meyer, a famous anatomist, had with Karl Culmann, a famous structural engineer and mathematician. The published papers from this interaction caught the attention of Julius Wolff and stimulated his development of the trajectorial hypothesis of bone adaptation—now called “Wolff’s Law.” The corresponding translations are provided: (1) von Meyer’s 1867 paper that highlights the regularity of arched trabecular patterns in various human bones, and his discussions with Culmann about their possible mechanical relevance; and (2) Wolff’s 1869 paper that first mentions the correspondence of stress trajectories in a solid, crane-like structure to the arched trabecular patterns in the proximal human femur. This biographical sketch on Georg Hermann von Meyer corresponds to the historic texts, The Classic: The Architecture of the Trabecular bone (by von Meyer), and The Classic: On the Significance of the Architecture of the Spongy Substance for the Question of Bone Growth. A preliminary publication (by Wolff) available at DOIs 10.​1007/​s11999-011-2041-5, 10.​1007/​s11999-011-2042-4.