engineering

Igor Karassik

Igor Karassik 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 Igor Karassik rather than just read about it. In short: Igor J. Karassik (Russian: Игорь Иванович Карасик) (December 1, 1911 in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire – July 2, 1995 in Maplewood, New Jersey) was a Russian-American engineer known for his pioneering work with pumps, a field in which he was "world-renowned" and an "outstanding authority".

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Igor J. Karassik (Russian: Игорь Иванович Карасик) (December 1, 1911 in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire – July 2, 1995 in Maplewood, New Jersey) was a Russian-American engineer known for his pioneering work with pumps, a field in which he was "world-renowned" and an "outstanding authority".

Early life Karassik was born to a wealthy Russian-Jewish family. His father, a mechanical engineer, John (Ivan) Karassik (1880—1969) was a son of a Kharkov merchant Nukhim-Perets (Peter) Karasik (c. 1849—1906). His mother Malvina nee Barjansky (1882—1967) was a daughter of an Odessa 1st guild merchant, composer, and pianist Adolf Barjansky (c. 1850—1900). Igor had an older sister Helen (1909—1990). The family emigrated from Russia to escape the Russian Revolution and naturalized the United States in 1923. His father went to America alone first, naturalized (with the whole family) after 6 years of residence, and then sent for his family. The rest of the family arrived to the United States in 1928, after living five years in Turkey and five years in France. He attended Carnegie Institute of Technology, and also studied in Turkey and France.

Professional life In 1934 or 1936, Karassik joined the Worthington Corporation; by 1974, he was a vice-president. He subsequently worked for Dresser Industries. In 1980, he became the first recipient of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers' Henry R. Worthington Medal for achievement in the field of pumping. He wrote over 1100 technical articles and papers on pump use and maintenance, as well as several books, including Centrifugal Pump Selection, Operation and Maintenance, Engineers' Guide to Centrifugal Pumps, and Centrifugal Pump Clinic; he also co-wrote Pump Questions and Answers, and co-edited Pump Handbook. In 1996, the Thirteenth Pump Users Symposium was dedicated to his memory.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Igor Karassik

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Igor Karassik 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 Igor Karassik 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 Igor Karassik 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 Igor Karassik

In research: Igor Karassik 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 Igor Karassik 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: Igor Karassik is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1911 births, 1995 deaths, 20th-century American engineers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Igor Karassik 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 Igor Karassik in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Igor Karassik in simple terms?

Why does Igor Karassik 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 Igor Karassik?

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 Igor Karassik.