astronomy

George K. Fraenkel

George K. Fraenkel 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 K. Fraenkel rather than just read about it. In short: George K. Fraenkel (July 27, 1921 – June 10, 2009) was an American physical chemist, dean of Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and chairman of the chemistry department at Columbia University.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

George K. Fraenkel (July 27, 1921 – June 10, 2009) was an American physical chemist, dean of Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and chairman of the chemistry department at Columbia University. Fraenkel was noted for his research of electron spin resonance. He also pioneered in the use of electronic techniques to study structures of molecules.

Biography

Background Fraenkel was born on July 27, 1921, in Deal, New Jersey. He grew up in Scarsdale, New York.

Education In 1942, he graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard. During World War II, he was hired by the National Defense Research Committee. After the war, he graduated Cornell with a doctorate in 1949.

Career Fraenkel joined Columbia's chemistry department in 1949. He served as the department's chair from 1965 to 1968. From 1968 to 1983, he served as dean of graduate school of arts and science. In 1971, Fraenkel oversaw the closure of the linguistics program at Columbia, under his recommendations. In 1983, he became a vice president for special projects. From 1986 to 1991, he returned to the chemistry department. He retired in 1991 as Higgins Professor Emeritus and dean emeritus.

Retirement At the time of his death, he also served as director and treasurer of the Atran Foundation in New York City.

Private life and death Fraenkel died in Manhattan on June 10, 2009, aged 87. Surviving him were his wife, Eva Stolz Gilleran Cantwell and six stepchildren.

Awards In 1972, Fraenkel received the Harold C. Urey Award of the Gamma Chapter of Phi Lambda Upsilon. In 1981, he received the Title of Officer dans l’Ordre des Palmes Academiques (1981).

Contributions Fraenkel developed instruments to "track the spin of electrons and thereby obtain information on very small structures," according to an obituary in The New York Times. "We are now determining the structure and function of medically important proteins implicated in Parkinson's disease, how viral proteins insert themselves into cells, medical imaging, memory function and quantum computing," said Jack H. Freed, professor of physical chemistry at Cornell, in reference to developments based on Fraenkel's work.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with George K. Fraenkel

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what George K. Fraenkel 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 K. Fraenkel 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 K. Fraenkel 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 K. Fraenkel

In research: George K. Fraenkel 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 K. Fraenkel 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 K. Fraenkel is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1921 births, 2009 deaths, American physical chemists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for George K. Fraenkel 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 K. Fraenkel in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is George K. Fraenkel in simple terms?

George K. Fraenkel (July 27, 1921 – June 10, 2009) was an American physical chemist, dean of Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and chairman of the chemistry department at Columbia University.

Why does George K. Fraenkel 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 K. Fraenkel?

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 K. Fraenkel.