astronomy

Jan Smit (paleontologist)

Jan Smit (paleontologist) 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 Jan Smit (paleontologist) rather than just read about it. In short: Jan Smit (born 8 April 1948) is a Dutch paleontologist. He was affiliated with the Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam from 2003 to 2013 as a professor of event stratigraphy, studying rapid changes in the geological record related to mass extinctions.

Key takeaways

Jan Smit (paleontologist) belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
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Reproduce the core statement of Jan Smit (paleontologist) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Jan Smit (born 8 April 1948) is a Dutch paleontologist. He was affiliated with the Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam from 2003 to 2013 as a professor of event stratigraphy, studying rapid changes in the geological record related to mass extinctions.

Career

Jan Smit was born on 8 April 1948 in the Hague. Smit graduated from the University of Amsterdam in 1974 with a master's degree in geology. In 1981 he obtained his PhD (cum laude) at the same university. Smit's main area of research is on the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, which ended the Cretaceous period and killed all non-avian dinosaurs. He was an early researcher into the now-accepted belief that an asteroid impact was responsible for their extinction; his dissertation, titled "A Catastrophic Event at the Cretaceous–Tertiary Boundary", was related to Luis and Walter Alvarez's recently published theory on the extinction event. The explanation is known as the Alvarez hypothesis, but was proposed independently by Smit, despite his later publication. Luis Alvarez described Smit as "a KT [Cretaceous–Tertiary] expert [who] has studied more KT sites around the world than anyone else". In 2019 The New Yorker labelled Smit as a "world authority" on the impact and extinction event.

Personal life Smit's daughter is Renske Smit, a researcher at the Astrophysics Research Institute at Liverpool John Moores University in Liverpool, England. She is one of only a handful of UK-based astronomers in the core survey teams of the James Webb Space Telescope. Smit's son-in-law is Robert Crain, a professor of theoretical astrophysics at the same university.

Awards In 2016, he was awarded the Van Waterschoot van der Gracht Medal. A main-belt asteroid, 19140 Jansmit, is named after Smit.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Jan Smit (paleontologist)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Jan Smit (paleontologist) 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 Jan Smit (paleontologist) 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 Jan Smit (paleontologist) 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 Jan Smit (paleontologist)

In research: Jan Smit (paleontologist) 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 Jan Smit (paleontologist) 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: Jan Smit (paleontologist) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1948 births, Barringer Medal winners, Dutch paleontologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Jan Smit (paleontologist) 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 Jan Smit (paleontologist) in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Jan Smit (paleontologist) in simple terms?

Why does Jan Smit (paleontologist) 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 Jan Smit (paleontologist)?

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 Jan Smit (paleontologist).