astronomy

Kao Cheng-yan

Kao Cheng-yan 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 Kao Cheng-yan rather than just read about it. In short: Kao Cheng-yan (Chinese: 高成炎; pinyin: Gāo Chéngyán; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ko Sêng-iām; born October 3, 1948) is a Taiwanese computer scientist and activist who is founding chair of the Green Party Taiwan and a member of the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union. Professionally, Kuo is a professor of computer science and bioinformatics at National Taiwan University.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Kao Cheng-yan (Chinese: 高成炎; pinyin: Gāo Chéngyán; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ko Sêng-iām; born October 3, 1948) is a Taiwanese computer scientist and activist who is founding chair of the Green Party Taiwan and a member of the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union. Professionally, Kuo is a professor of computer science and bioinformatics at National Taiwan University.

Early life and education Kao was born in Taipei. His father was the owner of a Taipei factory. After graduating from Taipei Municipal Chien Kuo High School in 1967, he studied mathematics as an undergraduate at National Taiwan University and received his Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in mathematics in 1971. He then completed graduate studies in the United States, where he earned a Master of Science (M.S.) in computer science in 1976, a second M.S. degree in statistics in 1978, and his Ph.D. in computer science in 1981, all from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Early career After receiving his doctorate, Kao worked for Ford Aerospace, Unisys, and General Electric from 1980 to 1989. During this period, he received a position at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

Political career He was a Taiwan independence activist during his student years in the United States. He ran for the Legislative Yuan on a Green Party ticket in 1998 and 2001 but failed to gain a seat. In the 2004 ROC referendum, he debated DPP Legislator You Ching. In November 2019, Kao was ranked second on Green Party Taiwan's party list of legislative candidates contesting the 2020 elections. He opposes the completion of the Lungmen Nuclear Power Plant, leading the campaign to gather more than 120,000 signatures in order to add a referendum to the national ballot. His opposition to nuclear power dates back to 1979.

References

Selected works 高成炎, ed. (16 April 2012). 福島核災啟示錄：假如日本311發生在台灣…… [Fukushima nuclear disaster revealed: if the 311 Japan event happened in Taiwan ...]. Taipei: 前衛. ISBN 978-9578016842. (in Chinese)

External links "無標題文件" [Untitled Document (Kao Cheng-yan's website at the National Taiwan University)]. 2004. Archived from the original on June 11, 2004. Retrieved November 26, 2014. "Welcome to C.Y.Kao's Research Group !". Retrieved November 26, 2014.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Kao Cheng-yan

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Kao Cheng-yan 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 Kao Cheng-yan 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 Kao Cheng-yan 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 Kao Cheng-yan

In research: Kao Cheng-yan 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 Kao Cheng-yan 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: Kao Cheng-yan is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1948 births, Academic staff of the National Taiwan University, Living people, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Kao Cheng-yan 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 Kao Cheng-yan in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Kao Cheng-yan in simple terms?

Why does Kao Cheng-yan 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 Kao Cheng-yan?

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 Kao Cheng-yan.