Max Rubner

Max Rubner [ru:bner] (June 2, 1854, Munich - April 27, 1932, Berlin) was a German physiologist (Physiologe), hygienist (Hygieniker).

He taught as a professor at the Marburg University (1885-), Berlin University (1891-1909; 1909-1922), Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut für Arbeitsphysiologie (means for military doctors).

Max Rubner is most famous for his rate-of-living theory, which proposes that a slow metabolism increases an animal's longevity. Rubner's observation was that larger animals outlived smaller animals, and the metabolic rates of larger animals were slower pro rata. The theory might have been inspired by the Industrial Revolution, the logic that the more a machine is worked, the sooner it will wear out.