engineering

Hugh H. Skilling

Hugh H. Skilling is a engineering 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 Hugh H. Skilling rather than just read about it. In short: Hugh Hildreth Skilling (1905 - 1990) was a Stanford University professor and a prolific author of electrical engineering textbooks. Hugh Skilling was born on September 2, 1905, in San Diego, California to William Thompson Skilling and Bird Hildreth Skilling.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Hugh Hildreth Skilling (1905 - 1990) was a Stanford University professor and a prolific author of electrical engineering textbooks. Hugh Skilling was born on September 2, 1905, in San Diego, California to William Thompson Skilling and Bird Hildreth Skilling. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in mechanical engineering in 1926 and an engineers degree in electrical engineering in 1927, both from Stanford University. From 1927 to 1929, he was employed in the construction department of the Southern California Edison Company, working onsite at the Big Creek Hydroelectric Project. He joined the Stanford faculty from 1928 to 1929, and then took a break to continue his graduate studies at MIT where he earned a Master of Science degree in 1930. He returned to his Stanford faculty position in 1931 and also earned a Ph.D. from Stanford in the same year. Hugh married Hazel Dillon on June 21, 1932. He continued as a Stanford University professor in electrical engineering until he retired in 1971. During that time, he was head of the department from 1944 to 1967.

Books and Other Publications Hugh Skilling wrote several research articles early in his career, including papers on electrical analogs of mechanical properties, mechanical analogs of electrical properties, long-distance power transmission, and the electrical breakdown of air through coronal discharge. However, his primary publications were numerous textbooks and other books about electrical engineering and/or teaching.

Transient Electric Currents (McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1937, Second ed. 1952) Fundamentals of Electric Waves (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1942, Second ed. 1948) Exploring Electricity: Man's Unfinished Quest (The Ronald Press Company, 1948, Second ed. 1962) Electric Transmission Lines: Distributed Constants, Theory and Applications (McGraw-Hill Book Company Inc., 1951) Electrical Engineering Circuits (John Wiley & Sons Inc., 1957, Second ed. 1965) A First Course in Electromechanics (John Wiley & Sons Inc., 1960) Electromechanics: A First Course in Electromechanical Energy Conversion (John Wiley & Sons Inc., 1962) Do You Teach? Views on College Teaching (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1969) Electric Networks (John Wiley & Sons Inc., 1974) Teaching Engineering, Science, Mathematics: Guidance by Distinguished Teachers (Krieger Publishing Co., 1977)

Recognition Awarded the IEEE James H. Mulligan Jr. Education Medal in 1965 Member of Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi, and A.I.E.E. Served on several Stanford committees, including one that revised the general education program for undergraduates, the faculty Executive Committee, and the Committee on University Policy. He was also on the Stanford Advisory Board, which is a small elected group that advises the university president on policy matters and reviews new appointments. Served as a Supervisor of the U.S. Army Signal Corps Radio Training Program (1942–43), and as assistant director of the Engineering Unit of the Army Specialized Training Program (1942–44). He was chosen as a civilian observer of a Bikini Atoll nuclear bomb test. Stanford's Hugh Hildreth Skilling building (494 Lomita Mall, Stanford) is named in his honor. It houses the Skilling auditorium and engineering classrooms.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Hugh H. Skilling

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Hugh H. Skilling claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, 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 Hugh H. Skilling 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 Hugh H. Skilling 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 Hugh H. Skilling

In research: Hugh H. Skilling appears in engineering 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 Hugh H. Skilling 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: Hugh H. Skilling is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1905 births, 1990 deaths, Electrical engineers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Hugh H. Skilling 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 Hugh H. Skilling in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Hugh H. Skilling in simple terms?

Why does Hugh H. Skilling matter?

Because it connects several engineering 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 Hugh H. Skilling?

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 Hugh H. Skilling.