physics

Kenneth McCracken (physicist)

Kenneth McCracken (physicist) is a physics 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 McCracken (physicist) rather than just read about it. In short: Kenneth G. McCracken, AO (born 7 August 1933) is an Australian physicist and leading space scientist, foundation Director of the CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) Office of Space Science and Applications and Foundation Chief of the CSIRO Division of Mineral Physics.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Kenneth G. McCracken, AO (born 7 August 1933) is an Australian physicist and leading space scientist, foundation Director of the CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) Office of Space Science and Applications and Foundation Chief of the CSIRO Division of Mineral Physics. He had earlier worked in the United States of America for several years where he occasionally worked as a consultant for NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). Kenneth McCracken was born in Brisbane, Queensland, the only child of Richard McCracken and Elisabeth Menzies (both Scottish emigrants). Kenneth was educated at Morooka Primary, Brisbane (1939), Deepdene Primary, Melbourne (1940–43) and Telopea Park Primary, Canberra (1943–44); his secondary schooling was at Canberra High School (1945–46) and Hobart High School (1946–49). McCracken then studied at the University of Tasmania where he obtained a Bachelor of Science with Honours (BSc (Hons)) in 1954; and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in 1959. From 1961 to 1962 McCracken was assistant professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology; from 1963 to 1965 he was a member of the NASA Space Radiation Protection Committee; from 1966 to 1969, he was a professor at the University of Adelaide. McCracken was awarded the Pawsey Medal of the Australian Academy of Science in 1969, the Gold Medal of the Australian Society of Exploration Geophysicists, the Australia Prize (jointly) in 1995 and the Ian William Wark Medal (2001) and Haddon King Medal (2003) of the Australian Academy of Science. He was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 1987 and appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 1989. McCracken was the Principal Investigator of an experiment on the Pioneer 7 mission. His entertaining autobiography biography is "Blast Off", ISBN 9781741106442, published by New Holland Publishers in 2008.

References

External links Audio interview with Ken McCracken by Richard Fidler at Australian Broadcasting Corporation website

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Kenneth McCracken (physicist)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Kenneth McCracken (physicist) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, 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 McCracken (physicist) 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 McCracken (physicist) 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 McCracken (physicist)

In research: Kenneth McCracken (physicist) appears in physics 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 McCracken (physicist) 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 McCracken (physicist) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1933 births, Australia Prize recipients, Australian physicists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Kenneth McCracken (physicist) 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 McCracken (physicist) in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Kenneth McCracken (physicist) in simple terms?

Why does Kenneth McCracken (physicist) matter?

Because it connects several physics 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 McCracken (physicist)?

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 McCracken (physicist).