physics

H. Richard Crane

H. Richard Crane 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 H. Richard Crane rather than just read about it. In short: Horace Richard Crane (November 4, 1907 – April 19, 2007) was an American physicist, the inventor of the Race Track Synchrotron, a recipient of President Ronald Reagan's National Medal of Science "for the first measurement of the magnetic moment and spin of free electrons and positrons". He was also noted for proving the existence of neutrinos.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Horace Richard Crane (November 4, 1907 – April 19, 2007) was an American physicist, the inventor of the Race Track Synchrotron, a recipient of President Ronald Reagan's National Medal of Science "for the first measurement of the magnetic moment and spin of free electrons and positrons". He was also noted for proving the existence of neutrinos. The National Academy of Sciences called Crane "an extraordinary physicist". The University of Michigan called him "one of the most distinguished experimental physicists of the 20th century". Crane was a chairman of the Department of Physics and a professor of physics at the University of Michigan, a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Crane earned his Ph.D. in 1934 under Charles Lauritsen at Caltech. During World War II, he worked on radar at MIT and proximity fuses at the Carnegie Institution of Washington and the University of Michigan. He consulted for the National Defense Research Commission and the Office of Scientific Research and Development. From 1957 to 1960, Crane was president of the Midwestern Universities Research Association. In addition, he was president of the American Association of Physics Teachers in 1965, and on the board of governors of the American Institute of Physics from 1964 to 1975. Crane was a supporter of higher education all his life. He and his wife donated money and time to Washtenaw Community College, in Ann Arbor Township, Michigan, with a building being named after them. Their effort was to encourage making higher education accessible to all the residents in the county, and their efforts are documented on the campus itself.

Life and career 1907: Born in Turlock, California on November 4 1930: BS, California Institute of Technology 1934: PhD in physics, California Institute of Technology 1934–1935: California Institute of Technology, Research Fellow in Physics 1935–1938: University of Michigan, Instructor and Research Physicist 1938–1946: University of Michigan, Assistant Professor to Associate Professor of Physics 1946–1978: University of Michigan, Professor of Physics 1978–2007: University of Michigan, Emeritus Professor of Physics

See also List of nominees for the Nobel Prize in Physics

References

External links

Oral history interview transcript with H. Richard Crane on 28 March 1973, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives - Session I Oral history interview transcript with H. Richard Crane on 18 June 1974, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives - Session II Oral history interview transcript with H. Richard Crane on 29 June 1990, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with H. Richard Crane

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what H. Richard Crane 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 H. Richard Crane 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 H. Richard Crane 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 H. Richard Crane

In research: H. Richard Crane 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 H. Richard Crane 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: H. Richard Crane is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1907 births, 2007 deaths, 20th-century American physicists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for H. Richard Crane 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 H. Richard Crane in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is H. Richard Crane in simple terms?

Why does H. Richard Crane 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 H. Richard Crane?

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 H. Richard Crane.