science

Hermann Meinken

Hermann Meinken is a science 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 Hermann Meinken rather than just read about it. In short: Hermann Meinken (10 December 1896 – 22 June 1976) was a German aquarist and amateur ichthyologist. Biography Meinken worked for several years as a high school biology teacher.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Hermann Meinken (10 December 1896 – 22 June 1976) was a German aquarist and amateur ichthyologist.

Biography Meinken worked for several years as a high school biology teacher. In 1951, together with Werner Ladiges and Hugo Weise, he founded the Commission for the Creation of German Fish Names in Hanover, which aimed to propose and establish German vernacular names for ornamental fish. Between 1929 and 1975, Meinken described 57 new species of cichlids, killifish, and cyprinids. Of these, 24 species remain valid today, including Hengel's rasbora (Trigonostigma hengeli), which he named in 1956 after Dutch aquarist J. F. van Hengel, who was the first to photograph the species alive. Together with Arthur Rachow and Maximilian Holly, Meinken published the loose-leaf collection Die Aquarienfische in Wort und Bild ("The Aquarium Fishes in Word and Picture") between 1934 and 1967. The work became a standard reference in German-language aquaristics. Its loose-leaf format, published in 130 installments, allowed for continuous updates. Among aquarists it was known as Holly–Meinken–Rachow. On 8 November 1973, at the age of 77, Meinken received an honorary doctorate from the University of Bremen. Since he had never completed a university degree, his approximately 800 publications and a presentation before the awarding committee were accepted as equivalent to a dissertation. In November 1974, he formally received a doctorate (Dr. rer. nat.) from the University of Bremen. Meinken was a long-time member of the Association of German Aquarium and Terrarium Societies (V.D.A.) and served as a systematist. From 1949 until 1976, he was head of the fish identification office of the V.D.A. In 1975, he was diagnosed with the neurological disease myasthenia gravis. He was married and had two sons.

Eponyms Several fish species were named after Meinken:

Rasbora meinkeni Apistogramma meinkeni Copella meinkeni (now considered a junior synonym of Copella nattereri)

Selected works Die Aquarienfische in Wort und Bild (with Maximilian Holly and Arthur Rachow), 1934–1967 Prächtige neue Zierfische ("Magnificent New Ornamental Fishes"), 1950 Wir bauen unser Aquarium auf ("We Build Our Aquarium"), 1950

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Hermann Meinken

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

In research: Hermann Meinken appears in science 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 Hermann Meinken 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: Hermann Meinken is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1896 births, 1976 deaths, 20th-century German zoologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Hermann Meinken 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 Hermann Meinken in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Hermann Meinken in simple terms?

Hermann Meinken (10 December 1896 – 22 June 1976) was a German aquarist and amateur ichthyologist. Biography Meinken worked for several years as a high school biology teacher.

Why does Hermann Meinken matter?

Because it connects several science 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 Hermann Meinken?

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 Hermann Meinken.