astronomy

Larry Travis

Larry Travis 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 Larry Travis rather than just read about it. In short: Larry E. Travis (June 5, 1929 – August 14, 2017) was a Professor Emeritus at the Department of Computer Sciences as the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Larry E. Travis (June 5, 1929 – August 14, 2017) was a Professor Emeritus at the Department of Computer Sciences as the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He had a faculty position at the University of Wisconsin as early as 1964 (two years before his Ph.D.) until 1994. He got his Ph.D. from University of California, Los Angeles in 1966, with a dissertation titled as: A Logical Analysis of the Concept of Stored Program: A Step Toward a Possible Theory of Rational Learning.

Selected publications Whitsitt, A.J. and Travis, L.E., 1996. Traffic route generation and adaptation using case-based reasoning. Journal of Intelligent Transportation Systems, 3(3), pp. 181–204. Stead WW, Haynes RB, Fuller S, Friedman CP, Travis LE, Beck JR, Fenichel CH, Chandrasekaran B, Buchanan BG, Abola EE, Sievert MC. Designing medical informatics research and library—resource projects to increase what is learned. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. 1994 Jan 1;1(1):28-33. West, D.M. and Travis, L.E., 1991. The computational metaphor and artificial intelligence: A reflective examination of a theoretical falsework. AI magazine, 12(1), pp. 64–64. West, David M., and Larry E. Travis. "From society to landscape: Alternative metaphors for artificial intelligence." AI Magazine 12, no. 2 (1991): 69-69. Travis, L.E., 1977. Data base system for AI applications. ACM SIGART Bulletin, (61), pp. 40–41. Travis, L.E., 1963. The value of introspection to the designer of mechanical problem solvers. Behavioral Science, 8(3), pp. 227–233. Travis, Larry E. "In defense of artificial intelligence research." Communications of the ACM 5, no. 1 (1962): 6–7.

References

External links Personal Webpage In Mathematics Genealogy Project

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Larry Travis

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Larry Travis 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 Larry Travis 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 Larry Travis 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 Larry Travis

In research: Larry Travis 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 Larry Travis 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: Larry Travis is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1929 births, 2017 deaths, Computer scientist stubs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Larry Travis 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 Larry Travis in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Larry Travis in simple terms?

Larry E. Travis (June 5, 1929 – August 14, 2017) was a Professor Emeritus at the Department of Computer Sciences as the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Why does Larry Travis 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 Larry Travis?

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 Larry Travis.