astronomy

Thure von Uexküll

Thure von Uexküll 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 Thure von Uexküll rather than just read about it. In short: Karl Kuno Thure Freiherr von Uexküll (March 15, 1908, Heidelberg – September 29, 2004, Freiburg) was a German scholar of psychosomatic medicine and biosemiotics. He developed the approach of his father, Jakob von Uexküll, in the study of living systems and applied it in medicine.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Karl Kuno Thure Freiherr von Uexküll (March 15, 1908, Heidelberg – September 29, 2004, Freiburg) was a German scholar of psychosomatic medicine and biosemiotics. He developed the approach of his father, Jakob von Uexküll, in the study of living systems and applied it in medicine. His mother was Gudrun Baroness von Uexküll (Gräfin von Schwerin).

Career 1955–1965 Director of the Medical Outpatient Department at the University of Giessen 1966–1977 Director of the Department of Internal Medicine and Psychosomatics at the University of Ulm

Awards Honorary Doctor of the University of Tartu (1994)

Works Der Sinn des Lebens (with Jakob von Uexküll). Godesberg: H.Küpper (1947). Der Mensch und die Natur. Grundzüge einer Naturphilosophie. Bern: Francke (1953). Grundfragen der psychosomatischen Medizin. Hamburg: Rowohlt (1963). Signs, Symbols and Systems. In: T. Sebeok, R. Posner (Hg): A semiotic Landscape. Den Haag, Paris, New York (1974), 487–492. Lehrbuch der psychosomatischen Medizin. Urban und Schwarzenberg, München; Wien; Baltimore (1979) Die Umweltlehre als Theorie der Zeichenprozesse. In: Th v. Uexküll (Hg): Kompositionslehre der Natur. Biologie als undogmatische Naturwissenschaft; ausgewählte Schriften. Frankfurt, Berlin, Wien: Ullstein (1980) Semiotics and medicine. In: Semiotica 38 (1982), 3/4: 205–215. Semiotics and the problem of the observer. In: Semiotica 48 (1984), 3/4: 187–195. Zeichen und Realität als anthroposemiotisches Problem. In: Oehler, Klaus (Hrsg.): Zeichen und Realität. Tübingen, Stauffenburg-Verlag (1984), 1: 61–72. Medicine and Semiotics. In: Semiotica, 61 (1986), 3/4: 201–217. Die Wissenschaft von dem Lebendigen. In: Perspektiven der Philosophie. Neues Jahrbuch (1987), 13: 451–461. Theorie der Humanmedizin. Grundlagen ärztlichen Denkens und Handelns. (with Wolfgang Wesiack): München: Urban und Schwarzenberg (1988) Naturwissenschaft als Zeichenlehre. In: Merkur (1989), 43: 225–234. Die Bedeutung der Semiotik für die Medizin. In: P. Rusterholz, M. Svilar (Ed). Welt der Zeichen - Welt der Wirklichkeit, Berner Universitätsschriften, Band 38, Verlag Paul Haupt (1993), 38: 85–100. Endosemiosis. (together with Werner Geigges und Jörg Hermann) In: Semiotica, (1993), 96, 1/2, 5–51. Biosemiose. In: R.Posner, K. Robering, T. Sebeok (Ed.). Semiotik. Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter, (1997), 447–457. Endosemiose. In: R. Posner, K. Robering, T. Sebeok (Hg.). Semiotik. Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter, (1997), 464–487. Psychosomatic Medicine. München: Urban & Schwarzenberg (1997). Theorie der Humanmedizin (with Wolfgang Wesiack). München: Urban & Schwarzenberg (1998).

Notes

References

Martin Krampen 2004. Thure von Uexküll - Arzt, Wissenschaftler, Semiotiker. Zeitschrift für Semiotik 26(3/4): 421–428. Kalevi Kull; Jesper Hoffmeyer 2005. Thure von Uexküll 1908–2004. Sign Systems Studies 33(2): 487–494.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Thure von Uexküll

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Thure von Uexküll 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 Thure von Uexküll 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 Thure von Uexküll 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 Thure von Uexküll

In research: Thure von Uexküll 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 Thure von Uexküll 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: Thure von Uexküll is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1908 births, 2004 deaths, Academic staff of the University of Giessen, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Thure von Uexküll 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 Thure von Uexküll in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Thure von Uexküll in simple terms?

Why does Thure von Uexküll 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 Thure von Uexküll?

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 Thure von Uexküll.