astronomy

Kim Davidson

Kim Davidson 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 Kim Davidson rather than just read about it. In short: Kim Davidson is a Canadian computer scientist, and founder and CEO of Side Effects software. He founded the firm in 1987.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Kim Davidson is a Canadian computer scientist, and founder and CEO of Side Effects software. He founded the firm in 1987. In 1998 the Academy of Motion Pictures awarded Davidson a technical Oscar, the Academy Award for Technical Achievement. Davidson would later win a second Oscar. In 1999, for a profile in Playback magazine Davidson, said he had been fascinated by the technical details of how animation worked since he was a child watching Saturday morning cartoons, like Magilla Gorilla. As a teenager Davidson had constructed his own small animation studio in his parents' home. Initially Davidson was planning to study animation at Sheridan College, but switched to the University of Waterloo's Architecture program—a field of study where he thought he could combine both his technical and artistic sides. However, after several years he added Computer Science, and graduated with a double major in both Architecture and Computer Science, in 1978. In 1999 he became the fifth awardee of the J.W. Graham Medal, named in honor of Wes Graham an early influential Professor of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo, and annually awarded to an influential alumnus of the University's Faculty of Mathematics.

References

External links http://www.math.uwaterloo.ca/navigation/Alumni/awards_grahammedal.shtml Archived 2011-01-23 at the Wayback Machine

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Kim Davidson

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Kim Davidson 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 Kim Davidson 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 Kim Davidson 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 Kim Davidson

In research: Kim Davidson 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 Kim Davidson 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: Kim Davidson is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1955 births, Academy Award for Technical Achievement winners, J.W. Graham Medal awardees, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Kim Davidson 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 Kim Davidson in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Kim Davidson in simple terms?

Kim Davidson is a Canadian computer scientist, and founder and CEO of Side Effects software. He founded the firm in 1987.

Why does Kim Davidson 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 Kim Davidson?

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 Kim Davidson.