A sharp metallic taste on the tongue during a 1752 experiment provided Johann Georg Sulzer with a unique observation regarding the interaction of different metals. This experience, involving the contact of two metals via saliva, predated the formal understanding of galvanism and established a place for his work within the early history of the battery.
Academic and Professional Background
Born in 1720 in Winterthur, Johann Georg Sulzer held a diverse range of professional roles, including writer, mathematician, pedagogue, theologian, university teacher, and literary critic. His intellectual contributions spanned several fields, such as pedagogy, theology, mathematics, and lexicography. Throughout his career, he worked in Berlin and Magdeburg, eventually becoming a member of the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences, where he directed the philosophical section. His identity was shaped by a reformed religion and dual citizenship in Switzerland and the Russian Empire.
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Sulzer authored the Allgemeine Theorie der schönen Künste, a three-volume aesthetic compendium published between 1771 and 1774. This work functioned as a systematic encyclopedia of aesthetics, aiming to organize knowledge across disciplines such as literature, rhetoric, visual arts, architecture, dance, music, and acting. Comprising approximately 900 articles, it integrated the ideas of figures including Bodmer, Breitinger, Karl Wilhelm Ramler, and Johann Adolf Schlegel. The project was modeled after French publications like the Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers and served to consolidate the intellectual state of the German High Enlightenment.
Philosophical and Literary Contributions
Beyond his aesthetic theories, Sulzer engaged deeply with translation and philosophical writing. In 1755, he translated David Hume's An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals into German. His broader literary and philosophical output included titles such as Unterredungen über die Schönheit der Natur (1750), Gedanken über den Ursprung der Wissenschaften und schönen Künste (1762), and Vermischte philosophische Schriften (1773/81). His critical perspective influenced contemporary understanding of poetry, as he prioritized the Ode as the highest form of poetic expression, while favoring works by Klopstock, Bodmer, Plautus, and Molière.
Fast facts
- Born: 1720, Winterthur
- Died: 1779, Berlin
- Citizenship: Switzerland; Russian Empire
- Religion: Reformed
- Fields of work: Mathematics, philosophy, pedagogy, theology, literary criticism, lexicography
- Notable publication: Allgemeine Theorie der schönen Künste
- Key experiment: Battery tongue test (1752)
Questions readers ask
What was Sulzer's role in the development of the battery?
He observed the 'battery tongue test' in 1752, noting that placing the tongue between two different metals in contact caused a physical sensation he attributed to particle vibration.
What was the purpose of the Allgemeine Theorie der schönen Künste?
It was designed to systematize all knowledge regarding aesthetics during the German High Enlightenment in a multi-volume lexical format.
Achievements
- Fields: pedagogy, theology and mathematics
