physics

George D. Watkins

George D. Watkins is a physics 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 D. Watkins rather than just read about it. In short: George Daniels Watkins (born 28 April 1924) is an American solid-state physicist. Biography Watkins was born in Evanston, Illinois and received his bachelor's degree in physics from Randolph-Macon College in 1943.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

George Daniels Watkins (born 28 April 1924) is an American solid-state physicist.

Biography Watkins was born in Evanston, Illinois and received his bachelor's degree in physics from Randolph-Macon College in 1943. He earned his master's degree in 1947 and his Ph.D. in 1952 from Harvard University with the thesis A R. F. Spectrometer with Applications to Studies of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Absorption in Solids. From 1952 to 1975 he did research in solid state physics at the General Electric Research Laboratory in Schenectady, New York. During his time at General Electric, he was also an adjunct professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute from 1962 to 1965 and at the State University of New York, Albany from 1969 to 1973. From 1975 until his retirement in 1996, he was "Sherman Fairchild Professor for Physics'" at Lehigh University. Watkins has done research on "the physics of defects in solids, radiation damage, electronic structure of deep levels in semiconductors, nuclear and electron paramagnetic resonance, optical spectroscopy, optical detection of magnetic resonance, and deep level transient capacitance spectroscopy of point defects in solids." His research focused on defects in semiconductors (including defects caused by radiation) and exploration of such defects with magnetic resonance techniques (electron spin resonance and electron nuclear double resonance). In 1966/67 he was a visiting scientist at the University of Oxford (Clarendon Laboratory) as a Fellow of the National Science Foundation and in 1983/84 at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart as U.S. Senior Scientist of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. In 1990/91 he was a visiting professor for three months each at the University of Lund, King's College London, and Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics (Fraunhofer-Institut für Angewandte Festkörperphysik — IAF) in Freiburg im Breisgau. In 1978 Watkins received the Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize. In 1988 he was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences. In 1999 he received the silver medal in Physics (Materials Science) of the International ESR/EPR Society.

References

External links George D. Watkins's homepage at Lehigh University

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with George D. Watkins

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what George D. Watkins claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, 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 D. Watkins 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 D. Watkins 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 D. Watkins

In research: George D. Watkins appears in physics 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 D. Watkins 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 D. Watkins is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1924 births, 20th-century American physicists, 21st-century American physicists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for George D. Watkins 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 D. Watkins in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is George D. Watkins in simple terms?

George Daniels Watkins (born 28 April 1924) is an American solid-state physicist. Biography Watkins was born in Evanston, Illinois and received his bachelor's degree in physics from Randolph-Macon College in 1943.

Why does George D. Watkins matter?

Because it connects several physics 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 D. Watkins?

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 D. Watkins.