astronomy

John D. Roberts

John D. Roberts 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 John D. Roberts rather than just read about it. In short: John Dombrowski Roberts (June 8, 1918 – October 29, 2016) was an American chemist. He made contributions to the integration of physical chemistry, spectroscopy, and organic chemistry for the understanding of chemical reaction rates.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

John Dombrowski Roberts (June 8, 1918 – October 29, 2016) was an American chemist. He made contributions to the integration of physical chemistry, spectroscopy, and organic chemistry for the understanding of chemical reaction rates. Another characteristic of Roberts' work was the early use of NMR, focusing on the concept of spin coupling.

Career

Roberts received both a B.A. (1941) and Ph.D. (1944) from the University of California, Los Angeles, working under Professor William Gould Young. He held several positions at the California Institute of Technology, including division chairman of chemistry and chemical engineering from 1963 to 1968, dean of the faculty and provost from 1980 to 1983 and Institute Professor of chemistry, emeritus (1988–2016) in the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. He is credited with bringing the first female graduate student, Dorothy Semenow, to Caltech when he moved from MIT. He was a consultant for DuPont Central Research (1950–2008) and for Oak Ridge. He published his autobiography in 1990, The Right Place at the Right Time. Roberts died on October 29, 2016, at the age of 98 from a stroke.

Awards and honors Roberts was elected a Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1952. He was elected Member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1956 at 38 years old. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1974. In 1978, he was elected a Fellow of The Explorers Club. In 1984, Roberts received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement, awarded the Priestley Medal in 1987, the National Medal of Science in 1990, the Glenn T. Seaborg Medal in 1991, the NAS Award in Chemical Sciences in 1999, the Nakanishi Prize in 2001, the NAS Award for Chemistry in Service to Society in 2009, the Linus Pauling Legacy Award in 2006 and the American Institute of Chemists Gold Medal in 2013. Roberts received honorary degrees from LMU Munich (1962), Temple University (1964), and the University of Notre Dame. In 1998, he was named by Chemical & Engineering News as one of the 75 most influential chemists of the last 75 years.

References

Sources Roberts, John D. (2000). ABCs of FT-NMR. Sausalito, California: University Science Books. ISBN 9781938787386. OCLC 44841582. "JDR". Engineering & Science. Vol. 44, no. 2. 1980. pp. 10–14.

Books Roberts, John D.; Caserio, Marjorie C. (1977). Basic Principles of Organic Chemistry (2nd ed.). W. A. Benjamin. ISBN 0-8053-8329-8. OCLC 680417561. (Alternate link to official Caltech repository for book) Roberts, John D.; Caserio, Marjorie C. (1977). A study guide to Basic principles of organic chemistry (2nd ed.). W. A. Benjamin. ISBN 0-8053-8327-1. OCLC 1151339528. Roberts, John D. (1961). An Introduction to the Analysis of Spin-Spin Splitting in High-Resolution Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectra. W. A. Benjamin. OCLC 1376898494. Roberts, John D. (1961). Notes on Molecular Orbital Calculations. W. A. Benjamin. OCLC 543389. Roberts, John D. (1959). Nuclear Magnetic Resonance: Applications to Organic Chemistry. McGraw-Hill Book Company. OCLC 1007467303. Roberts, John D.; Stewart, Ross; Caserio, Marjorie C. (1971). Organic Chemistry: Methane to Macromolecules. W. A. Benjamin. ISBN 978-0805383324. OCLC 1376898705. (Alternate link to official Caltech repository for book)

External links Center for Oral History. "John D. Roberts". Science History Institute. Mangravite, Andrew. Finding Aid to the papers of John D. Roberts, 1940–1992 (bulk 1960–2000). Science History Institute. Retrieved February 19, 2018. Click on 'Papers of John D. Roberts Finding Aid (2013)' to go to full document. Caltech faculty page Biography in E&S A Video interview of Professor Roberts

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with John D. Roberts

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what John D. Roberts 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 John D. Roberts 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 John D. Roberts 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 John D. Roberts

In research: John D. Roberts 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 John D. Roberts 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: John D. Roberts is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1918 births, 2016 deaths, American chemists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for John D. Roberts 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 John D. Roberts in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is John D. Roberts in simple terms?

Why does John D. Roberts 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 John D. Roberts?

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 John D. Roberts.