astronomy

Jürgen Engel

Jürgen Engel 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 Jürgen Engel rather than just read about it. In short: Jürgen Engel (born 15 March 1935 in Berlin) is a German-born Swiss chemist and biophysicist. Life Jürgen Engel is professor emeritus of biophysical chemistry.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Jürgen Engel (born 15 March 1935 in Berlin) is a German-born Swiss chemist and biophysicist.

Life Jürgen Engel is professor emeritus of biophysical chemistry. After studying chemistry, he received his doctorate in 1962 from the Max Planck Institute for Protein and Leather Research, Munich. A position as a visiting scientist at the Weizmann Institute in Israel followed. From 1965 to 1966 Engel worked with Prof. Manfred Eigen, a Nobel laureate in chemistry, at the MPI for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, then returned to the MPI for Protein and Leather Research to lead his own research group. From 1972 until 2004, when he reached emeritus status, he taught and conducted research in the Division of Biophysical Chemistry at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel. He was chairman of the institute for two years as well as Dean of the Faculty of Science. After his retirement from the Biozentrum he worked in the Research Department of Shriners Hospital for Children in Portland, Oregon.

Work Jürgen Engel studied the extracellular matrix and adhesion and receptor proteins on the cell surface, which play an important role in cell communication. Using physical methods, such as circular dichroism, X-ray crystallography, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and electron microscopy he elucidated the function, structure and dynamics of collagens, laminins and other matrix proteins. His group uncovered the mechanisms by which the α-helical coiled-coil domains of laminin connect three chains and mediate the association of the neuronal protein Agrin. For the matrix protein COMP, they found a channel-forming five-stranded coiled-coil domain. Furthermore, in genetic disorders such as Osteogenesis imperfecta the folding of the collagen triple helix and the recognition of the correct combination of the three chains are seriously disrupted due to mutations. Engel was committed to solving these problems throughout his whole career. Furthermore, he uncovered the mechanism of the homophilic interaction of extracellular domains of E-cadherin.

Notable publications Versatile Collagens in Invertebrates. In: Science. 277 (1997), S. 1785–1786. PMID 9324767 mit K. Mizuno, S. Boudko und H. P. Bächinger: Vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome mutations in type III collagen differently stall the triple helical folding. In: J Biol Chem. 288 (2013), S. 19166–19176. PMID 23645670 Biophysik-der physikalische Zugang zu biologischen Problemen. In: Physik Journal. 41, 1985, S. 327–328, doi:10.1002/phbl.19850411003. mit Ueli Aebi (Hrsg.): Cytoskeletal and Extracellular Proteins: Structure, Interactions and Assembly The 2nd International E.B.S.A. Symposium. (= Springer Series in Biophysics. 3). Springer, Berlin/ Heidelberg 1989, ISBN 3-642-73925-3. A Critical Survey of Biomineralization. In: Springer Briefs in Applied Science and Technology 2017, ISBN 978-3-319-47710-7.

External links Prof. Dr. Jürgen Engel, Emeritus

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Jürgen Engel

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Jürgen Engel 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 Jürgen Engel 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 Jürgen Engel 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 Jürgen Engel

In research: Jürgen Engel 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 Jürgen Engel 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: Jürgen Engel is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1935 births, Academic staff of the University of Basel, Biozentrum University of Basel, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Jürgen Engel 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 Jürgen Engel in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Jürgen Engel in simple terms?

Jürgen Engel (born 15 March 1935 in Berlin) is a German-born Swiss chemist and biophysicist. Life Jürgen Engel is professor emeritus of biophysical chemistry.

Why does Jürgen Engel 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 Jürgen Engel?

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 Jürgen Engel.