Second only to Copernicus. Samuel Thomas von Sömmerring (1755–1830), an underrated eminent scientist and inventor from Toruń

Abstract

Based on my many years of experience as a Toruń tour guide, I see a strong disproportion between tourists' knowledge of Nicolaus Copernicus and Samuel Thomas Sömmerring, another outstanding scientist and inventor from the city. In the essay I will outline Sömmerring's achievements, primarily in the field of neuroanatomy. One of the aims of the paper is to point out the role of his early years in his hometown and the evidence of the scientist's fond memory, which lasted until the last years of his life, of the Toruń Gymnasium, of which he was a graduate. I will also look at the supposed significance of the Toruń years for Copernicus' interest in astronomy. I will also make wider comparisons between the two scholars who came from Toruń. In addition, I will point to the manifestations of the still vivid memory of the achievements of the neuroanatomist from Toruń in contemporary science and the contrast in the forms of his commemoration between Frankfurt am Main and Toruń, postulating certain measures to improve this situation.