science

Roland Kuhn

Roland Kuhn 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 Roland Kuhn rather than just read about it. In short: Roland Kuhn (4 March 1912 – 10 October 2005) was a Swiss psychiatrist who discovered that the drug imipramine had antidepressant properties. he was born in Biel and died in Scherzingen. In 1957, Kuhn published the results of his observations of the antidepressant properties of Imipramine in the Schweizerische Medizinische Wochenschrift (Swiss Weekly Medical Journal).

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Roland Kuhn (4 March 1912 – 10 October 2005) was a Swiss psychiatrist who discovered that the drug imipramine had antidepressant properties. he was born in Biel and died in Scherzingen. In 1957, Kuhn published the results of his observations of the antidepressant properties of Imipramine in the Schweizerische Medizinische Wochenschrift (Swiss Weekly Medical Journal). More recently, it was discovered that he tested drugs on patients and children without informed consent and without proper approval by the authorities during his time at the psychiatric hospital in Münsterlingen (where he was director 1971–1980), a practice that is highly unethical. Kuhn studied medicine in Basel, and moved into psychiatry as a second choice of specialty. He trained under Jakob Klaesi, the inventor of sleep therapy.

Personal life He was married to Verena Gebhart. They had three daughters, Regula, Beatrix, and Ursula.

Honours Doctor of Medicine in Honoris causa from Université catholique de Louvain and University of Basel Doctor of Philosophy in honoris causa from Sorbonne University

Bibliography Marietta Meier, Magaly Tornay, et Marie König, On trial: Testing new drugs in psychiatry, 1940-1980, Manchester, Manchester University Press, 2024.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Roland Kuhn

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Roland Kuhn 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 Roland Kuhn 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 Roland Kuhn 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 Roland Kuhn

In research: Roland Kuhn 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 Roland Kuhn 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: Roland Kuhn is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1912 births, 2005 deaths, Daseinsanalysis, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Roland Kuhn 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 Roland Kuhn in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Roland Kuhn in simple terms?

Why does Roland Kuhn 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 Roland Kuhn?

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 Roland Kuhn.