![Kieler Universitätstage 1965 an der Christian-Albrechts-Universität (CAU) (Kiel 34](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Kieler_Universit%C3%A4tstage_1965_an_der_Christian-Albrechts-Universit%C3%A4t_%28CAU%29_%28Kiel_34.584%29.jpg)
Bernhard Hassenstein (31 May 1922 – 16 April 2016)
was a German
biologist
A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...
and
psychobiologist.
Life and work
Bernhard Hassenstein was a student of behavioral physiologist
Erich von Holst
Erich Walther von Holst (28 November 1908 – 26 May 1962) was a German behavioral physiologist who was a Baltic German native of Riga, Livonia and was related to historian Hermann Eduard von Holst (1841–1904). In the 1950s he founded th ...
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
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of j ...
and
color vision
Color vision, a feature of visual perception, is an ability to perceive differences between light composed of different wavelengths (i.e., different spectral power distributions) independently of light intensity. Color perception is a part of ...
in humans.
From 1939 to 1949, Hassenstein studied biology, physics, and chemistry in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
,
Göttingen
Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...
, and
Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
. During his military service in 1943, he met
Werner E. Reichardt
Werner E. Reichardt (30 January 1924 – 18 September 1992) was a German physicist and biologist who helped to establish the field of biological cybernetics. He co-founded the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, and the ''Journal of ...
, who eventually became his academic partner. In 1948, he worked as an assistant at the
Max Planck
Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck (, ; 23 April 1858 – 4 October 1947) was a German theoretical physicist whose discovery of energy quanta won him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918.
Planck made many substantial contributions to theoretical p ...
Institute for
Marine Biology
Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms in the sea. 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 s ...
in
Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') 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, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsha ...
. From 1954-1958, he worked at the Zoophysiological Institute of the
University of Tübingen
The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Wü ...
.
In 1958, Hassenstein worked with
physicist
A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe.
Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...
Werner Reichardt and engineer Hans Wenking to found the world's first working group on cybernetics at the Max Planck Institute for Biology in Tübingen. In 1960, he was appointed Professor of Zoology at the
University of Freiburg
The University of Freiburg (colloquially german: Uni Freiburg), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (german: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisg ...
.
Hassenstein retired in 1984. He reportedly died on 16 April 2016 in
Freiburg
Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...
, at the age of 93.
Memberships
* Heidelberg Academy of Sciences, since 1961
*
German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (german: Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina – Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften), short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founded ...
, since 1965
*
Wissenschaftsrat
The ''Wissenschaftsrat'' (''WR''; German Science and Humanities Council) is an advisory body to the German Federal Government and the state (''Länder'') governments. It makes recommendations on the development of science, research, and the univers ...
, 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 Leopoldina
The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (german: Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina – Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften), short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founded ...
(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.
References
External links
Homepage von Bernhard Hassenstein (mit Online-Artikeln)*
See also
University of Freiburg Faculty of Biology
The Faculty of Biology is one of the eleven faculties of the University of Freiburg in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is part of a strong life sciences network including institutions such as the Max Planck Institute of Imm ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hassenstein, Bernhard
1922 births
20th-century German biologists
Cyberneticists
2016 deaths
Academic staff of the University of Freiburg