Werner E. Reichardt
Encyclopedia
Werner E. Reichardt was a German physicist and biologist who helped to establish the field of biological cybernetics. He co-founded the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics
, and the Journal of Biological Cybernetics.
but escaped, and hid in Berlin until the end of the war.
From 1946 to 1950 he studied physics at the Technical University of Berlin. From 1950 he was a doctoral student of Ernst Ruska
, studying solid state semiconductors at the Fritz-Haber-Institut of the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, and received his doctorate in 1952. From 1952 to 1954 he was an assistant at the Institute where his teacher Max von Laue
was a large influence to his later research. During the war, Reichardt had known Bernhard Hassenstein
, who had studied otptomotor turning behaviour after the war. Realising these experiments could be formalised in a similar way to electronics experiments, he developed interdisciplinary theories of motion perception
. In 1954, Reichardt became a Postdoctoral Fellow at the California Institute of Technology
at the invitation of Max Delbrück
. From 1955 he was assistant at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry
in Göttingen under Karl Friedrich Bonhoeffer
. In 1958 he founded together with Bernhard Hassenstein
and Hans Wenking the cybernetics research group at the Max-Planck-Institute of Biology in Tübingen. In 1968 the department was transformed into the independent Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics
.
Reichardt died at the age of 68 years after collapsing at the end of a symposium organised in his honour.
In the 1950s, Reichardt, along with Hassenstein proposed a model of how a neuron receiving input from photoreceptors, which only respond to changes in luminance, could be used to compute motion. Each photoreceptor, responded to a change in luminance at a given location in visual space. Comparison of the phase shift of activity in adjacent cells indicated the direction of movement from one neuron's receptive field to the other. This model of micro-circuitry became known as a Reichardt detector. Whilst there is experimental evidence consistent with the hypothetical behaviour of a Reichardt detector, the corresponding circuitry has not yet been found.
Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics
The Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics is located in Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of 80 institutes in the Max Planck Society ....
, and the Journal of Biological Cybernetics.
Life
As a young student, Werner Reichardt was a pupil in the laboratory of Hans Erich Hollmann, a pioneer of ultra-shortwave communication. Because of his knowledge he was drafted in 1941 to the German air force as a radio technician. There he came into contact with resistance elements, and built a secret radio link with the Western Allies. In 1944 Reichardt was arrested by the GestapoGestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
but escaped, and hid in Berlin until the end of the war.
From 1946 to 1950 he studied physics at the Technical University of Berlin. From 1950 he was a doctoral student of Ernst Ruska
Ernst Ruska
Ernst August Friedrich Ruska was a German physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1986 for his work in electron optics, including the design of the first electron microscope.Ruska was born in Heidelberg...
, studying solid state semiconductors at the Fritz-Haber-Institut of the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, and received his doctorate in 1952. From 1952 to 1954 he was an assistant at the Institute where his teacher Max von Laue
Max von Laue
Max Theodor Felix von Laue was a German physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1914 for his discovery of the diffraction of X-rays by crystals...
was a large influence to his later research. During the war, Reichardt had known Bernhard Hassenstein
Bernhard Hassenstein
Bernhard Hassenstein is a German biologist, behaviorist, and is interested in biocybernetics. He is retiredprofessor at the Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg.-Life and work:...
, who had studied otptomotor turning behaviour after the war. Realising these experiments could be formalised in a similar way to electronics experiments, he developed interdisciplinary theories of motion perception
Motion perception
Motion perception is the process of inferring the speed and direction of elements in a scene based on visual, vestibular and proprioceptive inputs...
. In 1954, Reichardt became a Postdoctoral Fellow at the California Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
at the invitation of Max Delbrück
Max Delbrück
Max Ludwig Henning Delbrück was a German-American biophysicist and Nobel laureate.-Biography:Delbrück was born in Berlin, German Empire...
. From 1955 he was assistant at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry
Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry
The Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen is a research institute of the Max Planck Society. Currently, 812 people work at the Institute, 353 of them are scientists....
in Göttingen under Karl Friedrich Bonhoeffer
Karl Friedrich Bonhoeffer
-Life:Born in Breslau, he was an older brother of martyred theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer.Bonhoeffer studied from 1918 in Tübingen and Berlin, finishing his PhD in 1922 in Berlin with Walther Nernst. From 1923 to 1930 he was an assistant with Fritz Haber at Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical...
. In 1958 he founded together with Bernhard Hassenstein
Bernhard Hassenstein
Bernhard Hassenstein is a German biologist, behaviorist, and is interested in biocybernetics. He is retiredprofessor at the Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg.-Life and work:...
and Hans Wenking the cybernetics research group at the Max-Planck-Institute of Biology in Tübingen. In 1968 the department was transformed into the independent Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics
Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics
The Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics is located in Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of 80 institutes in the Max Planck Society ....
.
Reichardt died at the age of 68 years after collapsing at the end of a symposium organised in his honour.
Work
Reichardt's findings have contributed to understanding of information processing in nervous systems. From joint work (with Bernhard Hassenstein and Hans Wenking) on the visual system of insects and its effect on the flight orientation, the correlation model developed the idea that the visual system of man could be similarly investigated, and led to a general theory of motion perceptionReichardt detectors
See Motion perception#First-order motion perceptionIn the 1950s, Reichardt, along with Hassenstein proposed a model of how a neuron receiving input from photoreceptors, which only respond to changes in luminance, could be used to compute motion. Each photoreceptor, responded to a change in luminance at a given location in visual space. Comparison of the phase shift of activity in adjacent cells indicated the direction of movement from one neuron's receptive field to the other. This model of micro-circuitry became known as a Reichardt detector. Whilst there is experimental evidence consistent with the hypothetical behaviour of a Reichardt detector, the corresponding circuitry has not yet been found.
Honors and Awards
- 1965: Honorary Professor of the University of Tübingen
- 1970: full member of the Academy of Sciences and Literature MainzMainzMainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
- 1971: full member of the German Academy of Sciences LeopoldinaLeopoldinaLeopoldina is a municipality in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. , it has a population of 51,136.It is situated in the southeastern Zona da Mata mesoregion of the state....
Hall - 1972: foreign member of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesAmerican Academy of Arts and SciencesThe American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
Cambridge (Massachusetts) - 1977: foreign member of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, Amsterdam
- 1980: Pour le Mérite for Sciences and ArtsPour le MériteThe Pour le Mérite, known informally as the Blue Max , was the Kingdom of Prussia's highest military order for German soldiers until the end of World War I....
, - 1984: Senator of the Max Planck SocietyMax Planck SocietyThe Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science is a formally independent non-governmental and non-profit association of German research institutes publicly funded by the federal and the 16 state governments of Germany....
- 1985: HP Heineken Prize for Biochemistry and Biophysics (together with Bela JuleszBéla JuleszBéla Julesz was a visual neuroscientist and experimental psychologist in the fields of visual and auditory perception.Julesz was the originator of random dot stereograms which led to the creation of autostereograms...
) - 1988: foreign member of the National Academy of SciencesUnited States National Academy of SciencesThe National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
, Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution.... - 1989: foreign member of the American Philosophical SocietyAmerican Philosophical SocietyThe American Philosophical Society, founded in 1743, and located in Philadelphia, Pa., is an eminent scholarly organization of international reputation, that promotes useful knowledge in the sciences and humanities through excellence in scholarly research, professional meetings, publications,...
Philadelphia - 1989: Member of the Academia EuropaeaAcademia EuropaeaAcademia Europæa is a European non-governmental scientific academy founded in 1988. Its members are scientists and scholars who collectively aim to promote learning, education and research. It publishes European Review through Cambridge Journals....
- 1989: honorary doctorate of the RWTH AachenRWTH AachenRWTH Aachen University is a research university located in Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany with roughly 33,000 students enrolled in 101 study programs....
Links
- / ~ wreichardt Personal Website of Werner Reichardt for MPI with vita, list of publications and obituary norm