science

Wilhelm Peters

Wilhelm Peters 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 Wilhelm Peters rather than just read about it. In short: Wilhelm Karl Hartwich (or Hartwig) Peters (22 April 1815 – 20 April 1883) was a German naturalist and explorer. He was assistant to the anatomist Johannes Peter Müller and later became curator of the Berlin Zoological Museum.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Wilhelm Karl Hartwich (or Hartwig) Peters (22 April 1815 – 20 April 1883) was a German naturalist and explorer. He was assistant to the anatomist Johannes Peter Müller and later became curator of the Berlin Zoological Museum. Encouraged by Müller and the explorer Alexander von Humboldt, Peters travelled to Mozambique via Angola in September 1842, exploring the coastal region and the Zambesi River. He returned to Berlin with an enormous collection of natural history specimens, which he then described in Naturwissenschaftliche Reise nach Mossambique... in den Jahren 1842 bis 1848 ausgeführt (1852–1882). The work was comprehensive in its coverage, dealing with mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, river fish, insects and botany. He replaced Martin Lichtenstein as curator of the museum in 1858, and in the same year he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. In a few years, he greatly increased the Berlin Museum's herpetological collection to a size comparable to those of Paris and London. Herpetology was Peters' main interest, and he described 122 new genera and 649 species from around the world. Peters also described at least one new fish species, the piranha Serrasalmus irritans, Peters 1877, based on a specimen reported as from San Fernando de Apure, Venezuela.

Eponyms Wilhelm Peters is commemorated in the scientific names of several species: Mammals, including

Rhynchocyon petersi Reptiles, including

Andinosaura petrorum, Anolis petersii, Geophis petersii, Hebius petersii, Morenia petersi, and Tracheloptychus petersi. Fish

An African freshwater elephantfish, Gnathonemus petersii, known commonly as Peters's elephantnose fish. The African Fish Distichodus petersii Pfeffer, 1896 Petrocephalus petersi, is a species of electric fish in the family Mormyridae, it is found in the Zambezi River Delta and the Melela River. Plants

Nymphaea nouchali var. petersiana Geographic

Peters Bay in NE Greenland was named after him by Carl Koldewey during the 1869–1870 Second German North Polar Expedition.

Author abbreviation Sometimes, W. Peters is used to prevent confusion with herpetologists Günther Peters and James A. Peters.

Family His older brother was the German-born American Astronomer Christian Heinrich Friedrich Peters.

Works

Naturwissenschaftliche Reise nach Mossambique. Band 1: Zoologie / Säugethiere . Reimer, Berlin 1852 Digital edition by the University and State Library Düsseldorf Naturwissenschaftliche Reise nach Mossambique. Band 2: Zoologie / Vögel . Reimer, Berlin [1883] Digital edition by the University and State Library Düsseldorf Naturwissenschaftliche Reise nach Mossambique. Band 3: Zoologie / Amphibien . Reimer, Berlin 1882 Digital edition by the University and State Library Düsseldorf Naturwissenschaftliche Reise nach Mossambique. Band 4: Zoologie / Flußfische . Reimer, Berlin 1868 Digital edition by the University and State Library Düsseldorf Naturwissenschaftliche Reise nach Mossambique. Band 5: Zoologie / Insecten und Myriopoden . Reimer, Berlin 1862 Digital edition by the University and State Library Düsseldorf Naturwissenschaftliche Reise nach Mossambique. Botanik Abth. 1 . Reimer, Berlin 1862 Digital edition by the University and State Library Düsseldorf Naturwissenschaftliche Reise nach Mossambique. Botanik Abth. 2 . Reimer, Berlin 1864 Digital edition by the University and State Library Düsseldorf

See also Category:Taxa named by Wilhelm Peters

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Wilhelm Peters

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Wilhelm Peters 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 Wilhelm Peters 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 Wilhelm Peters 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 Wilhelm Peters

In research: Wilhelm Peters 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 Wilhelm Peters 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: Wilhelm Peters is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1815 births, 1883 deaths, 19th-century German zoologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Wilhelm Peters 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.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Wilhelm Peters in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Wilhelm Peters in simple terms?

Why does Wilhelm Peters 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 Wilhelm Peters?

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 Wilhelm Peters.