physics

Günter Schmahl

Günter Schmahl is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Günter Schmahl rather than just read about it. In short: Günter Schmahl (26 March 1936 – 14 August 2018) was a German physicist, professor at the University of Göttingen and a pioneer of X-ray microscopy. The main focus of Schmahl's work, and his most important achievement, was the development of full-field soft X-ray microscopy.

Key takeaways

Günter Schmahl belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Günter Schmahl to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Günter Schmahl from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Günter Schmahl (26 March 1936 – 14 August 2018) was a German physicist, professor at the University of Göttingen and a pioneer of X-ray microscopy. The main focus of Schmahl's work, and his most important achievement, was the development of full-field soft X-ray microscopy. He was one of the first to recognize the potential of this method and to identify and follow the technological approach of using zone plates as lenses in such a microscope. Schmahl and his collaborators further developed the technique until it was ready for application in two- and three-dimensional imaging of biological samples. Schmahl founded the Institute for X-ray Physics at the University of Göttingen and headed it until his retirement in 2002. He was also one of the founders and the first organizer of the International Conference on X-Ray Microscopy, which has been held every three years since 1983 and biennially since 2008.

Honors and awards 1985: Lower Saxony State Prize, category Science 1992: Röntgen Medal of the city of Remscheid 1995: Röntgen Award of the Department of Physics and Crystallography at the University of Würzburg Since 1996: Member of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities 2005: Advanced Photon Source Compton Award, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois (together with Janos Kirz)

Selected publications

References

External links Obituary by Tim Salditt in the yearbook of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Günter Schmahl

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Günter Schmahl claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Günter Schmahl before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Günter Schmahl ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Günter Schmahl

In research: Günter Schmahl appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Günter Schmahl in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Günter Schmahl is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1936 births, 2018 deaths, 20th-century German physicists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Günter Schmahl outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Günter Schmahl in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Günter Schmahl means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Günter Schmahl out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Günter Schmahl in simple terms?

Why does Günter Schmahl matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Günter Schmahl?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Günter Schmahl.