astronomy

Ladislav Pataki

Ladislav Pataki 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 Ladislav Pataki rather than just read about it. In short: Ladislav Pataki (June 20, 1946 – April 5, 2007) was an American coach, sports scientist, and masters track and field thrower. He defected from Czechoslovakia in 1985 with his wife and daughter, settling in Los Gatos, California.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Ladislav Pataki (June 20, 1946 – April 5, 2007) was an American coach, sports scientist, and masters track and field thrower. He defected from Czechoslovakia in 1985 with his wife and daughter, settling in Los Gatos, California. Dr. Pataki served as SyberVision System's Director of Advanced Sport Science upon his arrival in 1985 to 1990. In this tenure he established and integrated the Stanford University/SyberVision-developed film-to-brain sport training technology into the USA Olympic elite athlete training program in Colorado Springs, CO. After SyberVision he influenced the training of several world-class athletes living in the South Bay Area, where he continued his sports science career and developed nutritional supplements. As a masters competitor in track and field, he won several world championships and set world records in shot put and discus. He had surgery for brain cancer in the Czech Republic in 2006, after declining chemotherapy. When the tumor could not be completely removed, he entered an assisted living residence in San Jose, California. He died at age 60.

Early life and education Pataki grew up in Nové Zámky, in the former Soviet-bloc state of Czechoslovakia. Nové Zámky is located in the Nitra Region in the southwest of modern Slovakia. According to his resumes, Pataki was the 1964 Czechoslovak Junior Champion and record holder in shot put. After competing in sports internationally as a youth, he earned two Doctorate of Research degrees from Comenius University in Bratislava, with a 1971 thesis in kinesiology and a 1977 thesis in sport science.

Sports science career After completing his first doctorate, he started his career in 1972 as head coach for discus throwing of the Czechoslovak National Team. He held progressively responsible positions in Czechoslovakia until his defection in 1985. In the U.S., Pataki joined SyberVision Systems as its director of Advanced Sport Science. He successfully introduced the Stanford University/SyberVision film-to-brain elite athlete training program into the USA Olympic training regimen at Colorado Springs, CO. Dr. Pataki, the highest ranking sport scientist to defect from the Soviet Union, believed the SyberVision methodology (the ability to capture pure athletic skills on video and edit them in such a way that the viewer's body and "muscle memory" responded as if the viewer was physically performing the repetitive skill/action presented on the video) was more advanced and effective than the elite athlete training methodology used in the Soviet Union. After SyberVision, in 1990 he continued his sports science career influencing the training of a group of world-class throwers who were competing in shot put, discus, and hammer throw. The concentration of strength-event athletes became known as "Weight City." (Nearby San Jose State University had been nicknamed Speed City during its period of track and field success in the 1960s.) He also began a business career developing marketing nutritional supplements. In 2006, Pataki helped develop a nanotechnology-based skin care product at AmerElite Solutions, where he was the director of research and development.

Masters competition Pataki won world championships and set several records as a masters athletics (track and field) competitor in shot put, discus, and weight pentathlon.

Notes

External links NutrLife/PowerLean – Pataki's nutritional supplements company Dr. Pataki's clinic page – descriptions and photos of his shot put technique and training methods

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Ladislav Pataki

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Ladislav Pataki 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 Ladislav Pataki 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 Ladislav Pataki 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 Ladislav Pataki

In research: Ladislav Pataki 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 Ladislav Pataki 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: Ladislav Pataki is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1946 births, 2007 deaths, Academic staff of Comenius University, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Ladislav Pataki 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 Ladislav Pataki in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Ladislav Pataki in simple terms?

Why does Ladislav Pataki 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 Ladislav Pataki?

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 Ladislav Pataki.