physics

Lauriston S. Taylor

Lauriston S. Taylor 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 Lauriston S. Taylor rather than just read about it. In short: Lauriston S. Taylor (1 June 1902 – 26 November 2004) was an American physicist known for his work in the field of radiation protection and measurement.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Lauriston S. Taylor (1 June 1902 – 26 November 2004) was an American physicist known for his work in the field of radiation protection and measurement.

Career He established standards for X-ray radiation exposure for the first time in the 1920s, which eventually led to a group of government organizations that set the standards over the next 50 years. Taylor remained active in debates about radiation exposure into his 80s, often advocating the viewpoint that small doses of radiation were not important.

Accolades He served as president of the Health Physics Society (HPS) from 1958 to 1959. He was a recipient of the Medal of Freedom, and the Presidential Bronze Star (then the highest military award that could be given to a civilian).

Vignettes of early radiation workers In 1977 the Food and Drug Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services initiated a series of 25 recorded interviews with early radiation workers to provide an historical overview of their research and discoveries primarily in the fields of medical physics, radiation, and radiobiology. Lauriston S. Taylor moderated the series and also was an interview subject.

Interview subjects Howard Andrews Walter Binks, physicist and specialist in radiology Carl Bjorn Braestrup Austin M. Brues, physician National Research Council Robley Evans George Henny Paul Henshaw, physician National Research Council Norman Hilberry, "Mr. Scram", axe man at the first chain reaction for Chicago Pile 1, Director of Argonne National Laboratory, 1957-1961 Lillian E. Jacobson, physicist, radiotherapy department and laboratory division of Montefiore Hospital, New York Harold E. Johns, Canadian medical physicist George Laurence, Canadian nuclear physicist John H. Lawrence, American physicist and physician, nuclear medicine pioneer Herbert M. Parker, English born, American pioneer in medical radiation therapy and radiation safety Sir Edward Eric Pochin, British physician, specialist in ionizing radiation safety Edith Quimby, American medical researcher and physicist, pioneer in nuclear medicine John E. Rose, health physicist Roberts Rugh, department of radiology, Columbia University, directed research on the effects of ionizing radiation, served as senior medical consultant Eric E. Smith, British specialist in the field of ionizing radiation James Newell Stannard, radiobiologist, pharmacologist and physiologist at the National Institutes of Health Lauriston Sale "Laurie" Taylor E. Dale Trout, radiologist, professor emeritus of radiological physics, Oregon State University John G. Trump, American high-voltage engineer and physicist John Austin "Jack" Victoreen, self-taught radio engineer, pioneer of radiation detection instruments Samuel Reid Warren Jr., professor in electrical engineering at the University of Pennsylvania and radiation physicist Shields Warren, pioneer pathologist and expert in medical radiation Marvin Martin Dixon Williams, pioneer in medical physics, head of physics at the Mayo Clinic Harold O. Wyckoff, pioneer in measurement of radiation and radiation protection standards

References

External links

Archival collections Lauriston Sale Taylor Papers, 1904-1999 (inclusive), 1928-1989 (bulk). H MS c334. Harvard Medical Library, Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Boston, Mass. Lauriston Sale Taylor publications, 1928-1989, Niels Bohr Library & Archives

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Lauriston S. Taylor

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Lauriston S. Taylor 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 Lauriston S. Taylor 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 Lauriston S. Taylor 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 Lauriston S. Taylor

In research: Lauriston S. Taylor 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 Lauriston S. Taylor 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: Lauriston S. Taylor is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1902 births, 2004 deaths, 20th-century American physicists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Lauriston S. Taylor 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 Lauriston S. Taylor in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Lauriston S. Taylor in simple terms?

Lauriston S. Taylor (1 June 1902 – 26 November 2004) was an American physicist known for his work in the field of radiation protection and measurement.

Why does Lauriston S. Taylor 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 Lauriston S. Taylor?

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 Lauriston S. Taylor.