astronomy

Kenneth L. Williams

Kenneth L. Williams 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 Kenneth L. Williams rather than just read about it. In short: Kenneth Lee Williams (September 4, 1934 – November 1, 2017) was an American herpetologist and author of books on the subject of snake biology and classification. Williams retired from teaching in Northwestern State University's biology department and received emeritus status in 2001.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Kenneth Lee Williams (September 4, 1934 – November 1, 2017) was an American herpetologist and author of books on the subject of snake biology and classification. Williams retired from teaching in Northwestern State University's biology department and received emeritus status in 2001. Williams is considered an authority on the milk snake and the herpetology of the Honduran Cloud Forest. Williams was born in Saybrook, Illinois, and served one tour of duty with the U.S. Army after high school. He earned his bachelor's degree and master's from the University of Illinois, and his doctorate from Louisiana State University in 1970. After teaching at Tulane University in New Orleans and Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, Williams came to Northwestern State University in 1966 as an assistant professor. He became a full professor there in 1976.

Work Over his 35 years at Northwestern State University Williams authored or co-authored 147 professional publications and received both NSU's Distinguished Faculty Award and their Alumni Association's Excellence in Teaching Award. During his career, he specialized in studying the milk snake, Lampropeltis triangulum. In 1988, he published a book identifying 25 subspecies of milk snakes which is considered seminal and cited by most papers on milk snakes. Together with Hobart Muir Smith, he discovered in Mexico a new snake species in the genus Geophis. They also identified the southeastern canyon lizard subspecies of the canyon lizard in 1960. In 1966 he co-discovered the Texas scarlet snake. In 1968 he identified Aspidoscelis inornatus paululus, a subspecies of the little striped whiptail. He is also credited with the identification of the following milk snake subspecies in 1978: Andean Milksnake, Conant's milk snake, Honduran milk snake, Sinaloan milk snake, Smith's milk snake, and Stuart's milk snake. Williams concluded from his research that Lampropeltis triangulum temporalis is intermediate between the scarlet kingsnake and the eastern milk snake, and therefore that these so-called Coastal Plains phase milk snakes are intergrades and thus not a proper scientific designation. In 2000, the subspecies Sceloporus merriami williamsi, a taxonomic patronym, was named to honor Kenneth L. Williams for being a specialist in snake classification and the herpetology of Honduras and Mexico.

References

Selected bibliography Williams, Kenneth L. (1985), "Cemophora, C. coccinea ", Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles, 374: 1–4 Williams, Kenneth L. (1988), Systematics and natural history of the American milk snake, Lampropeltis triangulum, Milwaukee, WI (USA): Milwaukee Public Museum Williams, Kenneth L. (December 1994), Snakes of the World, Krieger Publishing Company, ISBN 0-89464-302-9 Williams, Kenneth L. (1994), "Lampropeltis triangulum ", Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles, 594: 1–10 Wilson, Larry David [in French]; Williams, Kenneth L. (2002), "Scolecophis, Scolecophis atrocinctus ", Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles, 758: 1–3

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Kenneth L. Williams

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Kenneth L. Williams 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 Kenneth L. Williams 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 Kenneth L. Williams 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 Kenneth L. Williams

In research: Kenneth L. Williams 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 Kenneth L. Williams 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: Kenneth L. Williams is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1934 births, 2017 deaths, 21st-century American zoologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Kenneth L. Williams 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 Kenneth L. Williams in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Kenneth L. Williams in simple terms?

Why does Kenneth L. Williams 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 Kenneth L. Williams?

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 Kenneth L. Williams.