science

Karl Kraepelin

Karl Kraepelin 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 Karl Kraepelin rather than just read about it. In short: Karl Matthias Friedrich Magnus Kraepelin (; German: [ˈkʁɛːpəliːn]; 14 December 1848 – 28 June 1915) was a German naturalist who specialised in the study of scorpions, centipedes, spiders and solfugids, and was noted for his monograph Scorpiones und Pedipalpi (Berlin) in 1899, which was an exhaustive survey of the taxonomy of the Order Scorpiones. From 1889 to 1914, he served as the director of the Naturhistorisches…

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Karl Matthias Friedrich Magnus Kraepelin (; German: [ˈkʁɛːpəliːn]; 14 December 1848 – 28 June 1915) was a German naturalist who specialised in the study of scorpions, centipedes, spiders and solfugids, and was noted for his monograph Scorpiones und Pedipalpi (Berlin) in 1899, which was an exhaustive survey of the taxonomy of the Order Scorpiones. From 1889 to 1914, he served as the director of the Naturhistorisches Museum Hamburg, which was destroyed during World War II, and worked on myriapods from 1901 to 1916.

Biography Karl Kraepelin was born in Neustrelitz. He studied natural sciences in Göttingen and Leipzig, where he earned his PhD in 1873, and taught as a teacher of mathematics and sciences in schools in Leipzig and Hamburg from 1873 to 1889. In 1884 he became a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. He was a member of the Assembly of University Professors of Hamburg from 1901 and the Faculty Council of Colonial Institute from 1908. He was one of 7 children of scholar, stage actor and singer Karl Kraepelin (1817–1882), who had also founded a theological college. His younger brother, Emil Kraepelin (1856–1926), was a pioneer in experimental psychiatry and professor of psychiatry in Munich from 1903 to 1922. Between 1903 and 1904 Karl, accompanied by Emil, set out on a five-month voyage, visiting Ceylon, India, Singapore and Java, and in 1908 they undertook a two-month trip to the United States. Kraepelin gained worldwide recognition for his commitment to reform science education in schools. He authored several books on botany and zoology, among which, Leitfaden für den Unterricht an Botanischen mittleren und höheren Schulen ("Guide for botany classes in middle and high schools"). He died in Hamburg, aged 66. Numerous species were named in his honour, e.g. Boiga kraepelini, the square-headed cat snake, Physocypria kraepelini (an ostracod), Clavatula kraepelini (a sea-snail), Tetramorium kraepelini (an ant), Iurus kraepelini (a scorpion) and many others.

Selected publications Kraepelin K (1887). "Die Deutschen Süsswasser-Bryozoen. I. Anatomisch-systematischer Teil ". Abhandlungen des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins in Hamburg 10: 1-168 + Plates 1–7. Online. (in German) Kraepelin K (1900). "Über einige neue Gliederspinnen ". Abhandlungen und Verhandlungen des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins in Hamburg 16 (1): 4. (in German). Kraepelin K (1901). "Palpigradi und Solifugae. Heft 12 ". pp. xi + 1–159. In: Das Tierreich. Eine Zusammenstellung und Kennzeichnung der rezenten Tierformen. (in German). Kraepelin K (1903). "Scorpione und Solifugen Nordost-Afrikas, gesammelt 1900 und 1901 von Carlo Freihern von Erlanger und Oscar Neumann". Zoologische Jahrbücher. Abteilung für Systematik, Geographie und Biologie der Tiere 18: 557–578. (in German). Kraepelin K (1908). "Die sekundären Geschlechtscharaktere der Skorpione, Pedipalpen und Solifugen ". Jahrbuch der Hamburgischen Wissenschaftlichen Anstalten 25: 181–225. (in German).

References

External links Newspaper clippings about Karl Kraepelin in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW. (in German).

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Karl Kraepelin

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Karl Kraepelin 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 Karl Kraepelin 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 Karl Kraepelin 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 Karl Kraepelin

In research: Karl Kraepelin 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 Karl Kraepelin 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: Karl Kraepelin is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1848 births, 1915 deaths, 19th-century German naturalists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Karl Kraepelin 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 Karl Kraepelin in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Karl Kraepelin in simple terms?

Why does Karl Kraepelin 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 Karl Kraepelin?

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 Karl Kraepelin.