science

Michael Hermanussen

Michael Hermanussen 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 Michael Hermanussen rather than just read about it. In short: Michael Hermanussen (born 26 April 1955 in Hamburg) is a German pediatrician and professor at the University of Kiel. He is known for his work on growth and nutrition.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Michael Hermanussen (born 26 April 1955 in Hamburg) is a German pediatrician and professor at the University of Kiel. He is known for his work on growth and nutrition.

Life Hermanussen studied medicine and worked as a pediatrician at the University of Kiel from 1982 until 1989. He investigated growth and child development (auxology) and first described mini growth spurts. Since 1990 he cooperates in international joint projects with scientists and also works in a general pediatric office. He organizes national and international meetings on growth and nutrition. From 2003 to 2011 he was a member of the scientific board of the German society for Anthropology. Together with Christiane Scheffler he edits ”Human Biology and Public Health”. He is the founder of the Auxological Society.

Scientific Work Hermanussen developed new mathematical methods for improved diagnostics of growth disorders and a new technique for estimating final adult height. He developed mini-knemometry, a new and accurate technique for growth measurements in children. This device determines the lower leg length at an accuracy that growth becomes measurable within a few days. In addition he developed a similar technology for measuring growth in rats within intervals of a few hours. This technology was important for the better understanding of the effects of growth hormone. His investigations resulted in a significant improvement of growth hormone therapies. For the first time, Hermanussen showed that anorexia nervosa patients do not only stop growing they even can shrink. Since 2002 he works in nutrition and obesity, with particular respect to monosodium glutamate on appetite regulation. During this project Hermanussen showed for the first time that convenience food contains neurotransmitters. In the global debate on the causes of stunting, he argues that stunting is not a synonym of malnutrition, but is socially conditioned. Together with Prof. Christiane Scheffler, he is investigating the influence of the social environment on the growth of children and adolescents and the significance of height as a social signal. Hermanussen and Scheffler were the first to demonstrate that the secular trend toward greater body height cannot be adequately explained by physical circumstances such as wealth, health, and diet alone, but occurs particularly following the collapse of rigid political systems and during periods of political uncertainty.

External links PubMed citations Hermanussen, Michael (2013) Auxology. Studying Human Growth and Development. Schweizerbart Science

Footnotes

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Michael Hermanussen

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Michael Hermanussen 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 Michael Hermanussen 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 Michael Hermanussen 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 Michael Hermanussen

In research: Michael Hermanussen 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 Michael Hermanussen 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: Michael Hermanussen is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1955 births, 21st-century German anthropologists, Auxologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Michael Hermanussen 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 Michael Hermanussen in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Michael Hermanussen in simple terms?

Michael Hermanussen (born 26 April 1955 in Hamburg) is a German pediatrician and professor at the University of Kiel. He is known for his work on growth and nutrition.

Why does Michael Hermanussen 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 Michael Hermanussen?

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 Michael Hermanussen.