Born in Berne, Switzerland, Haller studied in Tübingen and at Leiden under Albinus. After receiving his M.D. at the age of eighteen, he studied mathematics and botany at Basle. In 1736 he was appointed Professor of Anatomy, Surgery and Medicine at the new University of Göttingen, where he organized the curriculum, taught anatomy, physiology, clinical medicine, and also established the library and a botanical garden, and helped to found the Royal Society of Sciences of Göttingen. Amid this busy schedule Haller still found time to publish thousands of papers and dozens of books. In 1753 he abruptly resigned from Göttingen, and spent the rest of his life in Berne, where he turned his energies to botany, philosophy, and literature. In the field of medicine, Haller wrote prodigiously on physiology, anatomy, embryology, and bibliography. His most important work on physiology was his Elementa physiologiæ corporis humani, published in right volumes between 1757 and 1766. Called the first modern textbook of physiology, it is regarded as Haller's most important contribution to medicine. Elementa physiologiæ contained several physiological discoveries, which were forgotten, only to be rediscovered many years later. They include the myogenic theory of the heartbeat, and the role of bile in the digestion of fat. Haller's principal anatomical work was his Icones anatomicæ, issued in eight fascicles between 1743 and 1756. It is illustrated with forty-seven large plates, drawn mostly by J.P. Kaltenhofer and C.J. Rollin, and engraved by G.D. Heumann and J. van der Spyk. The plates, drawn from dissections performed at Göttingen, are notable for their accuracy and clarity.