biology

Lawrence Garfinkel

Lawrence Garfinkel is a biology 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 Lawrence Garfinkel rather than just read about it. In short: Lawrence Garfinkel (January 11, 1922 – January 21, 2010) was an American epidemiologist involved in demonstrating the link between smoking and lung cancer. After graduating from high school at age 15, he attended City College of New York.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Lawrence Garfinkel (January 11, 1922 – January 21, 2010) was an American epidemiologist involved in demonstrating the link between smoking and lung cancer. After graduating from high school at age 15, he attended City College of New York. His college career was interrupted by World War II. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Garfinkel joined the Army, serving in France. After months in hospital after being seriously wounded, he returned to City College earning a bachelor's degree in statistics. He later earned a master's degree from Columbia University. An early job at the American Cancer Society, where he was hired as a statistical clerk, turned into a 43-year career. Over time, he learned the tools of epidemiology and rose to become a leader in the field. In the early 1950s, scientists began to suspect the link between smoking and cancer, but statistically valid evidence didn't yet exist. An early study that he performed with his seniors, tracking more than 150,000 people for about 3 and a half years, demonstrated a significant correlation. This landmark study was just the first of numerous, increasingly ambitious studies, tracking more than a million people each. The data from these studies—still being used today—not only conclusively demonstrated the links between smoking and lung cancer, but also collected valuable data on obesity, alcohol use, other cancers, and various other factors. Garfinkel also worked on studies of the pathology of lung cancer and precancer, and demonstrated statistical correlation between length of smoking and the amount of tissue change. This provided a physiological underpinning to the disease correlations previously established.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Lawrence Garfinkel

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Lawrence Garfinkel claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, 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 Lawrence Garfinkel 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 Lawrence Garfinkel 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 Lawrence Garfinkel

In research: Lawrence Garfinkel appears in biology 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 Lawrence Garfinkel 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: Lawrence Garfinkel is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1922 births, 2010 deaths, American Cancer Society people, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Lawrence Garfinkel 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 Lawrence Garfinkel in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Lawrence Garfinkel in simple terms?

Why does Lawrence Garfinkel matter?

Because it connects several biology 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 Lawrence Garfinkel?

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 Lawrence Garfinkel.