astronomy

George Johnson (writer)

George Johnson (writer) 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 Johnson (writer) rather than just read about it. In short: George Johnson (born January 20, 1952) is an American journalist and science writer. Work Johnson is the author of nine books, including The Cancer Chronicles (2013), The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments (2008) and Strange Beauty: Murray Gell-Mann and the Revolution in 20th-Century Physics (1999), and writes for a number of publications, including The New York Times.

Key takeaways

George Johnson (writer) 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 Johnson (writer) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of George Johnson (writer) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

George Johnson (born January 20, 1952) is an American journalist and science writer.

Work Johnson is the author of nine books, including The Cancer Chronicles (2013), The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments (2008) and Strange Beauty: Murray Gell-Mann and the Revolution in 20th-Century Physics (1999), and writes for a number of publications, including The New York Times. He is a two-time winner of the science journalism award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science. His books have been short-listed three times for the Royal Society science book prize. His column, "Raw Data", appeared in The New York Times. Johnson is one of the co-hosts (with science writer John Horgan) of "Science Faction", a weekly discussion on the website Bloggingheads.tv, related to topics in science. Several prominent scientists, philosophers, and bloggers have been interviewed for the site.

Awards His ninth book The Cancer Chronicles: Unlocking Medicine's Deepest Mystery was on the shortlist for the 2014 Royal Society Prize for Science Books. Previously shortlisted for the prize were Strange Beauty: Murray Gell-Mann and the Revolution in 20th-Century Physics (2001) and Fire in the Mind: Science, Faith, and the Search for Order (1995). In 2014 three of his pieces for The New York Times about the science of cancer won the AAAS Science Journalism Award. He won the award in 2000 for three articles about complexity and high-energy physics.

Bibliography

The Cancer Chronicles: Unlocking Medicine's Deepest Mystery. Knopf, 2013. The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments. Knopf, 2008. Miss Leavitt's Stars: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Discovered How to Measure the Universe. James Atlas Books/Norton, 2005, about Henrietta Leavitt A Shortcut Through Time: The Path to the Quantum Computer. Knopf, 2003. Strange Beauty: Murray Gell-Mann and the Revolution in 20th-Century Physics. Knopf, 1999. Vintage paperback, 2000, about Murray Gell-Mann Fire in the Mind: Science, Faith, and the Search for Order. Knopf, 1995. Vintage paperback, 1996. In the Palaces of Memory: How We Build the Worlds Inside Our Heads. Knopf, 1991. Vintage paperback, 1992. Machinery of the Mind: Inside the New Science of Artificial Intelligence. Times Books, 1986. Tempus / Microsoft paperback, 1987. Architects of Fear: Conspiracy Theories and Paranoia in American Politics. Tarcher/Houghton Mifflin, 1984.

References

External links

George Johnson's home page Interviews/Discussions on Bloggingheads.tv New York Times author index page

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with George Johnson (writer)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what George Johnson (writer) 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 Johnson (writer) 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 Johnson (writer) 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 Johnson (writer)

In research: George Johnson (writer) 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 Johnson (writer) 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 Johnson (writer) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1952 births, 20th-century American essayists, 20th-century American journalists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for George Johnson (writer) 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 Johnson (writer) in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is George Johnson (writer) in simple terms?

George Johnson (born January 20, 1952) is an American journalist and science writer. Work Johnson is the author of nine books, including The Cancer Chronicles (2013), The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments (2008) and Strange Beauty: Murray Gell-Mann and the Revolution in 20th-Century Physics (1999), an…

Why does George Johnson (writer) 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 Johnson (writer)?

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 Johnson (writer).