astronomy

Heinz Oberhummer

Heinz Oberhummer is a astronomy 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 Heinz Oberhummer rather than just read about it. In short: Heinz Oberhummer (19 May 1941 – 24 November 2015), was an Austrian physicist and skeptic. Biography Heinz Oberhummer was born in Bischofshofen and grew up in Obertauern, Austria.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Heinz Oberhummer (19 May 1941 – 24 November 2015), was an Austrian physicist and skeptic.

Biography Heinz Oberhummer was born in Bischofshofen and grew up in Obertauern, Austria. He studied physics at the University of Graz and LMU Munich. He lived in the village of Oberwölbling in the Dunkelsteinerwald, Lower Austria. Heinz Oberhummer was married and had two children.

Research fields Heinz Oberhummer was professor emeritus of Theoretical Physics at the Atominstitut of the Technical University of Vienna. His main research area was nucleosynthesis. He was also involved in questions concerning the fine-tuning of the Universe. Oberhummer, Csótó und Schlattl could derive quantifiable results concerning the fine-tuning of the Universe by investigating the creation of carbon and oxygen in the triple-alpha process in red giants.

He was the initiator of Nuclei in the Cosmos, the most important international conference series in the field of nuclear astrophysics taking place for the tenth time in the year 2008 at Michigan State University in the United States. He was especially engaged in the popularisation of scientific contents, including the new media. He developed Web-based learning and information systems and co-ordinated educational projects funded by the European Commission, such as Cinema and Science. He was also engaged in the creation and presentation of popular science with the Science Busters in the Rabenhof Theater in Vienna along with Werner Gruber and Martin Puntigam and as a weekly radio column and podcast in the Austrian youth radio station FM4. He was a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Giordano Bruno Foundation and the Gesellschaft zur wissenschaftlichen Untersuchung von Parawissenschaften (GWUP), the German-speaking branch of the worldwide skeptical movement. Furthermore, he was president of the "Gesellschaft für Kritisches Denken" (the Austrian branch of the GWUP), and of the Austrian "Zentralrat für Konfessionsfreie" (National Council of Non-confessionals). Heinz Oberhummer was president of the secularist initiative "Religion ist Privatsache" (Religion is a private matter). He died in Vienna on 23 November 2015.

Oberhummer Award

After Oberhummer's death, the Heinz Oberhummer Award for Science Communication was established in his honor. The award is presented by the Science Busters, the Federal Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection (the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research until 2019), the Technical University of Vienna, the University of Graz, the City of Vienna, FM4 and the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation. Oberhummer Award winners receive a glass of alpaca droppings and 20,000 euros. The annual ceremony takes place in the Stadtsaal in Vienna and is broadcast on national television.

Recipients

References

Selected publications Kann das alles Zufall sein – Geheimnisvolles Universum? Archived 2015-11-28 at the Wayback Machine, Ecowin-Verlag, Salzburg, 2008, ISBN 978-3902404541 H. Oberhummer: Urknall und Sternenstaub – Der Kosmos aus naturwissenschaftlicher Sicht In Die Idee vom Anfang, Ritter Verlag, Klagenfurt, Wién, 2008, ISBN 978-3898464949 H. Oberhummer: Maßarbeit oder Zufall – sind wir nicht anderes als Sternenstaub? In Der etwas andere Blick auf die Schöpfung, Haag + Herrchen: Frankfurt, 2007, ISBN 978-3898464949 H. Oberhummer (Editor): Nuclei in the Cosmos, Graduate Texts in Contemporary Physics, Springer Verlag, Heidelberg, 1991, ISBN 0387541985 H. Oberhummer, A. Patkos, T. Rauscher: Origin of the Chemical Elements. In: Handbook of Nuclear Chemistry, Vol. 2, Kap. 1, Kluwer, 2003, ISBN 1402013051 H. Oberhummer, A. Csótó, H. Schlattl: Stellar production rates of carbon and its abundance in the Universe, Science 289, 2000, 88 H. Oberhummer: Kerne und Sterne: Einführung in die Nukleare Astrophysik. In German. Barth, Leipzig, Berlin, Heidelberg 1993, ISBN 3335003195

External links Articles of Heinz Oberhummer in arxiv.org Kann das alles Zufall sein? – Geheimnisvolles Universum, Ecowin-Verlag, 2008; Award for "Best Popular Science Book in Austria 2009" Archived 2015-11-28 at the Wayback Machine Science Busters Cinema and Science (CISCI) Neue Erkenntnisse zur Entstehung der Grundlagen für Leben

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Heinz Oberhummer

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Heinz Oberhummer claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, 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 Heinz Oberhummer 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 Heinz Oberhummer 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 Heinz Oberhummer

In research: Heinz Oberhummer appears in astronomy 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 Heinz Oberhummer 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: Heinz Oberhummer is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1941 births, 2015 deaths, 20th-century Austrian astronomers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Heinz Oberhummer 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.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Heinz Oberhummer” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Heinz Oberhummer in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Heinz Oberhummer 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 Heinz Oberhummer out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Heinz Oberhummer in simple terms?

Heinz Oberhummer (19 May 1941 – 24 November 2015), was an Austrian physicist and skeptic. Biography Heinz Oberhummer was born in Bischofshofen and grew up in Obertauern, Austria.

Why does Heinz Oberhummer matter?

Because it connects several astronomy 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 Heinz Oberhummer?

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 Heinz Oberhummer.