astronomy

George Clayton Kennedy

George Clayton Kennedy 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 George Clayton Kennedy rather than just read about it. In short: George Clayton Kennedy (22 September 1919 – 18 March 1980) was a professor of geochemistry at UCLA and an amateur botanist with an interest in orchids. Clayton was born in Dillon, Montana, where his parents owned a ranch.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

George Clayton Kennedy (22 September 1919 – 18 March 1980) was a professor of geochemistry at UCLA and an amateur botanist with an interest in orchids. Clayton was born in Dillon, Montana, where his parents owned a ranch. He studied at Beaverhead county school before he joined Harvard University where he received a BS, MA and a PhD in mining engineering. He joined the geochemistry department of UCLA in 1953 and worked there until his death. He worked on the melting temperature of rocks in the earth's outer core and proposed some rules that are sometimes termed as Kennedy's law of melting. Based on his ideas of the temperature of the earth's core and theories on earth magnetism, he suggested that the earth could not have a magnetic field, known sometimes as Kennedy's paradox. He worked on thermoluminescence dating and also on the production of artificial diamonds. He traveled to New Guinea several times in the 1960s and collected ethnographic objects. He also collected orchids across the world and had a collection at home. He also wrote on orchid taxonomy and edited the Orchid Digest. His New Guinea art collections were exhibited at various museums in the US. He also collected art works and one trip he heard from a native American about a totem pole made by his grandfather that had been exhibited at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893. He researched the object and found that it had been donated to a Boy Scout camp in Illinois. He travelled there and discovered it and bought it, reselling it later to a collector. He took an interest in ecology and when he heard about algal blooms caused by fertilizer runoff in California, he suggested the introduction of algae-eating fish from South America. Kennedy died of cancer. The standard author abbreviation G.C.Kenn. is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.

Names published (incomplete list)

Coryanthes bergoldii G.C. Kenn. ex Dodson Lycaste mathiasiae G.C.Kenn. Orchid Digest 42(2): 60. 1978 Myrmecophila brysiana (Lem.) G.C.Kenn. – Orchid Digest 43(6): 210. 1979 Myrmecophila exaltata (Kraenzl.) G.C.Kenn. – Orchid Digest 43(6): 211. 1979 Myrmecophila wendlandii (Rchb.f.) G.C.Kenn. – Orchid Digest 43(6): 211. 1979 Odontoglossum splendens (Rchb.f.) G.C.Kenn. & Garay – Orchid Digest 40(3): 98. 1976 Rossioglossum (Schltr.) Garay & G.C.Kenn. – Orchid Digest 40(4): 139. 1976 Rossioglossum grande (Lindl.) Garay & G.C.Kenn. – Orchid Digest 40(4): 142. 1976 Rossioglossum grande (Lindl.) Garay & G.C.Kenn. var. aureum (Stein) Garay & G.C.Kenn. – Orchid Digest 40: 142. 1976 Rossioglossum insleayi (Baker ex Lindl.) Garay & G.C.Kenn. – Orchid Digest 40(4): 142. 1976 Rossioglossum insleayi (Lindl.) Garay & G.C.Kenn. var. leopardinum (Regel) Garay & G.C.Kenn. Rossioglossum powellii (Schltr.) Garay & G.C.Kenn. – Orchid Digest 40(4): 142. 1976 Rossioglossum schlieperianum (Rchb.f.) Garay & G.C.Kenn. – Orchid Digest 40(4): 143. 1976 Rossioglossum schlieperianum (Rchb.f.) Garay & G.C.Kenn. var. flavidum (Rchb.f.) Garay & G.C.Kenn. – Orchid Digest 40(4): 143. 1976 (IK) Rossioglossum splendens (Rchb.f.) Garay & G.C.Kenn. – Orchid Digest 40: 142. 1976 (GCI) Rossioglossum splendens (Rchb.f.) Garay & G.C.Kenn. var. imschootianum (Rolfe) Garay & G.C.Kenn. – Orchid Digest 40(4): 143. 1976 (IK) Rossioglossum splendens var. imschootianum (Rolfe) Garay & G.C.Kenn. – Orchid Digest 40: 143. 1976 (GCI) Rossioglossum splendens (Rchb.f.) Garay & G.C.Kenn. var. leopardinum (Regel) Garay & G.C.Kenn. – Orchid Digest 40(4): 143. 1976 (IK) Rossioglossum splendens var. pantherinum (Rchb.f.) Garay & G.C.Kenn. – Orchid Digest 40: 143. 1976 (GCI) Rossioglossum williamsianum (Rchb.f.) Garay & G.C.Kenn. – Orchid Digest 40: 143. 1976 (GCI) (These are not all accepted names.)

Publications (taken from Orchid Digest Index, incomplete) "DispelaPulpul Him He Nothing – Something", 1977, Orchid Digest 41 (2) "The Butterfly orchids: Section Glanduligera of the genus Oncidium", 1977, Orchid Digest 41 (4) "Encyclia adenocaula and Encyclia kennedyi", 1981, Orchid Digest 45 (2) "Further notes on the genus Anguloa: confused species of the Anguloa rucheri section", 1978, Orchid Digest 42 (4) "The genera Schomburgkia and Myrmecophila", 1979, Orchid Digest 43 (6) "The genus Anguloa", 1976, Orchid Digest 40 (4) "The genus Clowesia", 1978, Orchid Digest 42 (3) "The genus Comparettia", 1978, Orchid Digest 42 (5) "The genus Dracula", 1979, Orchid Digest 43 (1) "The genus Pabasatia", 1978, Orchid Digest 42 (4) "The Laelias of Mexico", 1978, Orchid Digest 42 (1) "Some members of the genus Coryanthes", 1978, Orchid Digest 42 (1)

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with George Clayton Kennedy

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what George Clayton Kennedy 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 George Clayton Kennedy 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 George Clayton Kennedy 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 George Clayton Kennedy

In research: George Clayton Kennedy 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 George Clayton Kennedy 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: George Clayton Kennedy is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1919 births, 1980 deaths, 20th-century American botanists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for George Clayton Kennedy 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 George Clayton Kennedy in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is George Clayton Kennedy in simple terms?

Why does George Clayton Kennedy 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 George Clayton Kennedy?

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 George Clayton Kennedy.