engineering

James N. Goodier

James N. Goodier 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 James N. Goodier rather than just read about it. In short: James Norman Goodier (October 17, 1905 – November 5, 1969) was professor of applied mechanics at Stanford University known for his work in elasticity and plastic deformation. He was born in Preston, Lancashire, England and studied engineering at Cambridge University.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

James Norman Goodier (October 17, 1905 – November 5, 1969) was professor of applied mechanics at Stanford University known for his work in elasticity and plastic deformation. He was born in Preston, Lancashire, England and studied engineering at Cambridge University. He was awarded a Commonwealth Fund Fellowship which enabled him to continue his studies at the University of Michigan where he earned his doctorate in 1931 under the direction of Stephen Timoshenko with a dissertation titled Compression of Rectangular Blocks, and the Bending of Beams by Nonlinear Distributions of Bending Forces. Timoshenko moved to Stanford University in 1936 and Goodier eventually succeeded him there. He was co-author of two classic books in this field: "Theory of Elasticity," with Timoshenko, 1951; and "Elasticity and Plasticity," with P. G. Hodge, Jr., 1958 and was awarded the Timoshenko Medal by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1961. He was chairman of the Applied Mechanics Division of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers from 1945 to 1946, and was elected Fellow of that Society in 1964. He had more than fifty doctoral students, two of whom were George F. Carrier and Nils Otto Myklestad.

References

External links James N. Goodier at the Mathematics Genealogy Project J. N. Goodier Papers Stanford Daily News, November 7, 1969. http://stanforddailyarchive.com/cgi-bin/stanford?a=d&d=stanford19691107-01.2.11 Retrieved March 8, 2015.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with James N. Goodier

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what James N. Goodier 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 James N. Goodier 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 James N. Goodier 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 James N. Goodier

In research: James N. Goodier 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 James N. Goodier 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: James N. Goodier is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1905 births, 1969 deaths, 20th-century American engineers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for James N. Goodier 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 James N. Goodier in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is James N. Goodier in simple terms?

Why does James N. Goodier 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 James N. Goodier?

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 James N. Goodier.