science

Karel Soucek

Karel Soucek is a science 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 Karel Soucek rather than just read about it. In short: Karel Soucek (April 19, 1947 – January 20, 1985) was a Czech professional daredevil living in Canada who went over Niagara Falls in a barrel in 1984. He died the following year due to injuries sustained during a stunt attempt at the Astrodome in Houston.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Karel Soucek (April 19, 1947 – January 20, 1985) was a Czech professional daredevil living in Canada who went over Niagara Falls in a barrel in 1984. He died the following year due to injuries sustained during a stunt attempt at the Astrodome in Houston.

Biography Before emigrating to Canada, Soucek was a tank commander in his native Czechoslovakia. He established himself as a daredevil by performing stunt flying, wing walking, skydiving, and motorcycle stunts. He lived in Hamilton, Ontario. Soucek prepared for his 1984 attempt to go over Niagara Falls by researching previous attempts, by sending unmanned barrels over the falls to test the currents, and by dropping his barrel off the Niagara Escarpment in Hamilton to test its shock absorbance. Soucek's custom-made barrel was 9 feet (2.7 m) long and 5 feet (1.5 m) in diameter. It was bright red and bore the words, "Last of the Niagara Daredevils - 1984" and "It's not whether you fail or triumph, it's that you keep your word... and at least try!" On July 2, 1984, the barrel was rolled into the Niagara River 1,000 feet (300 m) above the cataract of Niagara Falls with Soucek inside. In seconds, the barrel was swept over the brink. Shortly after, Soucek emerged bleeding but safe.

Soucek was fined $500 for performing the stunt without a license. He had also spent $15,000 on materials and labor and $30,000 to film the stunt, but quickly earned back all his costs from sales and interviews. Having tasted success, Soucek decided to build a museum at Niagara Falls, Ontario, in which to display his stunting paraphernalia. He convinced a corporation to finance a barrel drop from the top of the Houston Astrodome into a tank of water to pay for his project. On January 19, 1985, as Soucek was enclosed in his barrel, 180 feet (55 m) above the floor of the Astrodome, the barrel was released prematurely and began spinning as it fell toward the ground. Instead of landing in the center of the tank of water, the barrel hit the rim. Foam pads, which had been placed at the bottom of the tank to cushion Soucek's fall, had floated to the surface before the barrel was released. Soucek, severely injured, was still alive when he was cut from the barrel but died while the Astrodome stunt show was still going on. Stuntman Evel Knievel had tried to persuade Soucek not to go through with the stunt, calling it "the most dangerous I've ever seen". Soucek is buried at the Drummond Hill Cemetery in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

See also List of inventors killed by their own invention

Notes

References

External links News video of fatal Astrodome stunt on YouTube

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Karel Soucek

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Karel Soucek claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, 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 Karel Soucek 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 Karel Soucek 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 Karel Soucek

In research: Karel Soucek appears in science 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 Karel Soucek 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: Karel Soucek is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1947 births, 1985 deaths, Accidental deaths from falls in the United States, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Karel Soucek 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 Karel Soucek in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Karel Soucek in simple terms?

Why does Karel Soucek matter?

Because it connects several science 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 Karel Soucek?

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 Karel Soucek.