Bernhard Hassenstein
Encyclopedia
Bernhard Hassenstein is a German
biologist
, behaviorist, and is interested in biocybernetics
. He is retired
professor
at the Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg
.
and one of the leading researchers in the fields of behavioral biology and bio-cybernetics. His scientific work includes substantial contributions to the understanding of motion perception in insects and color vision
in humans. He popularized the term "injunction" (a means of definition in the subject areas where the application of a definition is not appropriate). He determined the types of aggression
and developed cybernetic models of behavior for living organisms, such as the "maximum diffuser model."
From 1939 to 1949 Hassenstein studied Biology
, Physics
, and Chemistry
in Berlin
, Göttingen
, and Heidelberg
. From his third semester, he was a research student of Erich von Holst. During his military service in 1943, he met his friend and later academic partner Werner E. Reichardt
. In 1945 he escaped as a prisoner of war and continued his studies. From 1948 he worked as an assistant at the Max Planck
Institute for Marine Biology
, Dept. v.Holst, working in Wilhelmshaven
and then changed from 1954 to 1958 to the Zoophysiological Institute of the University of Tübingen.
In 1958 Hassenstein worked jointly with the physicist Werner Reichardt and engineer Hans Wenking to found the world's first working group on cybernetics at Max Planck Institute for Biology in Tübingen. In 1960 he was appointed as a professor of zoology at the University of Freiburg
. There, working with Hans Mohr, he reformed the study of biology in terms of form and content. He worked to delve into the subjects of botany
, zoology
, human biology, genetics
, molecular biology
, and ecology
.
From 1968 to 1972 Hassenstein represented the biology in science internationally. From 1974 to 1981 he served as the Chairman of the Commission the "Attorney of the Child" at the Ministry of Culture of Baden-Wuerttemberg. From 1974, he supported his wife Helma Hassenstein in the establishment and execution of that program. Then in 1984 Bernhard Hassenstein retired.
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
biologist
Biologist
A biologist is a scientist devoted to and producing results in biology through the study of life. Typically biologists study organisms and their relationship to their environment. Biologists involved in basic research attempt to discover underlying mechanisms that govern how organisms work...
, behaviorist, and is interested in biocybernetics
Biocybernetics
Biocybernetics is the application of cybernetics to biological science, composed of biological disciplines that benefit from the application of cybernetics: neurology, multicellular systems and others...
. He is retired
professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
at the Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg
University of Freiburg
The University of Freiburg , sometimes referred to in English as the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.The university was founded in 1457 by the Habsburg dynasty as the...
.
Life and work
Bernhard Hassenstein was a student of behavioral physiologist Erich von HolstErich von Holst
Erich von Holst , was a German behavioral physiologist who was a native of Riga, and was related to historian Hermann Eduard von Holst...
and one of the leading researchers in the fields of behavioral biology and bio-cybernetics. His scientific work includes substantial contributions to the understanding of motion perception in insects and color vision
Color vision
Color vision is the capacity of an organism or machine to distinguish objects based on the wavelengths of the light they reflect, emit, or transmit...
in humans. He popularized the term "injunction" (a means of definition in the subject areas where the application of a definition is not appropriate). He determined the types of aggression
Aggression
In psychology, as well as other social and behavioral sciences, aggression refers to behavior between members of the same species that is intended to cause humiliation, pain, or harm. Ferguson and Beaver defined aggressive behavior as "Behavior which is intended to increase the social dominance of...
and developed cybernetic models of behavior for living organisms, such as the "maximum diffuser model."
From 1939 to 1949 Hassenstein studied Biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
, Physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
, and Chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Göttingen
Göttingen
Göttingen is a university town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...
, and Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
. From his third semester, he was a research student of Erich von Holst. During his military service in 1943, he met his friend and later academic partner Werner E. Reichardt
Werner E. Reichardt
Werner E. Reichardt was a German physicist and biologist who helped to establish the field of biological cybernetics...
. In 1945 he escaped as a prisoner of war and continued his studies. From 1948 he worked as an assistant at the Max Planck
Max Planck
Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck, ForMemRS, was a German physicist who actualized the quantum physics, initiating a revolution in natural science and philosophy. He is regarded as the founder of the quantum theory, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918.-Life and career:Planck came...
Institute for Marine Biology
Marine biology
Marine biology is the scientific study of organisms in the ocean or other marine or brackish bodies of water. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifies species based on the environment rather...
, Dept. v.Holst, working in Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea.-History:...
and then changed from 1954 to 1958 to the Zoophysiological Institute of the University of Tübingen.
In 1958 Hassenstein worked jointly with the physicist Werner Reichardt and engineer Hans Wenking to found the world's first working group on cybernetics at Max Planck Institute for Biology in Tübingen. In 1960 he was appointed as a professor of zoology at the University of Freiburg
University of Freiburg
The University of Freiburg , sometimes referred to in English as the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.The university was founded in 1457 by the Habsburg dynasty as the...
. There, working with Hans Mohr, he reformed the study of biology in terms of form and content. He worked to delve into the subjects of botany
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
, zoology
Zoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
, human biology, genetics
Genetics
Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....
, molecular biology
Molecular biology
Molecular biology is the branch of biology that deals with the molecular basis of biological activity. This field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochemistry...
, and ecology
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
.
From 1968 to 1972 Hassenstein represented the biology in science internationally. From 1974 to 1981 he served as the Chairman of the Commission the "Attorney of the Child" at the Ministry of Culture of Baden-Wuerttemberg. From 1974, he supported his wife Helma Hassenstein in the establishment and execution of that program. Then in 1984 Bernhard Hassenstein retired.
Memberships
- Heidelberg Academy of Sciences, since 1961
- German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, since 1965
- WissenschaftsratWissenschaftsratThe Wissenschaftsrat is an advisory body to the German Federal Government and the state governments. It makes recommendations on the development of science, research, and the universities, as well as on the competitiveness of German science...
, from 1968 to 1972
Honors
- German Society of Pediatrics - Honorary Member (1975)
- Max Born Medal for Responsibility in Science (1981)
- Charles Küpfmüller ring the Technical University of Darmstadt (1981)
- Dr Albert Wander Prize for migrant AG in Bern (1984)
- Cothenius Medal of the German Academy of Natural Scientists LeopoldinaGerman Academy of Natural Scientists LeopoldinaThe Leopoldina is the national academy of Germany.Historically it was known under the German name Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina until 2007, when it was declared the national academy of Germany.The Leopoldina is currently located in Halle...
(1993) - Exhibit "Brace Globe and Correlation Analysis" (with Werner Reichardt) in the Deutsches Museum Bonn (with Werner Reichardt) (1995)
- Honorary Prize of Culture Award (Reinhold Schneider Prize) of the city of Freiburg (with Helma Hassenstein) (2002)
Main Areas of Research
- Biological Cybernetics
- Sensory and nerve physiology
- Behavioral biology of the Child
- Natural theory of concepts
Writings (selection)
- Goethe's morphology as self-critical science and current validity of their results. Weimar : Böhlau, 1950.
- Principles of comparative anatomy in Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, Cuvier and Goethe 1958th
- How insects see movements? Naturwissenschaften 7, 207–214. Science 7, 207-214. 1961. 1961st
- "Cybernetics and biological research", in Gessner F: "Handbook of Biology, Part I", Frankfurt am Main. Akad. Verl.Ges. Akad Verl.Ges. Athenaion, 1966.
- Modeling for data processing in color vision. Kybernetik 4, 209-223, 1968 Cybernetics 4, 209-223, 1968
- Political behavior as a problem of biological anthropology. Bad Godesberg: Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, 1968.
- Young animal and human being in view of comparative ethology. Stuttgart: Gentner, 1970.
- Information and control in the living organism : an elementary introduction. London: Chapman Hall, 1971.
- "Homoiostasis and coordination," "Rules of the central services" and "behavior", in Czihak G., H. Langer and H. Ziegler: "Biology - A Textbook", Heidelberg, Berlin. 1976. 1976th
- Biological Cybernetics: an elementary introduction. 5. Ed - Heidelberg: Quelle & Meyer, 1977.
- The child in preschool and primary school / contributions by Bernhard Hassenstein; Heinelt Gottfried, Christa Meves. - 7 Freiburg: Herder, 1978.
- Freiburg lectures on the biology of man. Heidelberg: Quelle & Meyer, 1979.
- Instinct, learning, playing, insight in behavioral biology. Munich: Piper, 1980.