astronomy

Wolfgang Baumeister

Wolfgang Baumeister 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 Wolfgang Baumeister rather than just read about it. In short: Wolfgang P. Baumeister (born 22 November 1946, in Wesseling bordering Cologne) is a German molecular biologist and biophysicist.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Wolfgang P. Baumeister (born 22 November 1946, in Wesseling bordering Cologne) is a German molecular biologist and biophysicist. His research has been pivotal in the development of Cryoelectron tomography.

Education and career After completing his Abitur, Wolfgang Baumeister studied biology, chemistry, and physics from 1966 to 1967 at the University of Münster and from 1967 to 1969 at the University of Bonn. At the Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf he was a graduate student from 1970 to 1973 and a research associate from 1973 to 1980 in the department of biophysics. He received his Promotion in 1973 and his Habilitation in 1978. From 1981 to 1982 he was a Heisenberg Fellow at the physics department of the Cavendish Laboratory of England's University of Cambridge. From 1983 to 1987 he was group leader (with rank C3, Professor Extraordinarius) of the "Molecular Structural Biology" working group at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried near Munich. The MPI's research department of "Molecular Structural Biology" does research involving molecular biological structures revealed by electron microscopy, cryoelectron tomography, protein and cell structure, and protein degradation He was an außerplanmäßiger Professor from 1984 to 1987 at the University of Düsseldorf and is since 1987 an außerplanmäßiger Professor in the Faculty of Chemistry of the Technical University of Munich. Since 1988 he is the head of the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry's department of structural biology. Since 2000 he has also been an honorary professor in the Faculty of Physics of the Technical University of Munich. Baumeister has served on the editorial boards of several journals, including Current Biology, the Journal of Microscopy, the Journal of Structural Biology, and Trends in Cell Biology. He is now the editor-in-chief of Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications.

Honors and awards 1998 – Otto Warburg Medal 2000 – elected a member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences, 2001 – elected a member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, 2003 – elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 2003 – Louis-Jeantet Prize 2003 – I. & H. Wachter Award, 2005 – Harvey Prize 2005 – Schleiden Medal 2006 – Ernst Schering Prize 2008 – Bijvoet Medal of the Bijvoet Centre for Biomolecular Research of Utrecht University, 2010 – elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences. 2018 – Ernst Jung Gold Medal for Medicine. 2022 – Alexander Hollaender Award in Biophysics 2023 – Rosenstiel Award 2025 – Shaw Prize in Life Sciences. 2026 – Canada Gairdner International Award.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Wolfgang Baumeister

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Wolfgang Baumeister 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 Wolfgang Baumeister 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 Wolfgang Baumeister 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 Wolfgang Baumeister

In research: Wolfgang Baumeister 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 Wolfgang Baumeister 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: Wolfgang Baumeister is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1948 births, Academic staff of Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Academic staff of the Technical University of Munich, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Wolfgang Baumeister 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 Wolfgang Baumeister in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Wolfgang Baumeister in simple terms?

Wolfgang P. Baumeister (born 22 November 1946, in Wesseling bordering Cologne) is a German molecular biologist and biophysicist.

Why does Wolfgang Baumeister 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 Wolfgang Baumeister?

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 Wolfgang Baumeister.