physics

Leonard Reiffel

Leonard Reiffel 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 Leonard Reiffel rather than just read about it. In short: Leonard Reiffel (September 30, 1927 – April 15, 2017) was an American physicist, author and educator. Born in Chicago, Reiffel was an electrical engineering student for a number of years before entering into research fields.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Leonard Reiffel (September 30, 1927 – April 15, 2017) was an American physicist, author and educator. Born in Chicago, Reiffel was an electrical engineering student for a number of years before entering into research fields. He collaborated with Enrico Fermi, Carl Sagan, and members of Operation Paperclip. Reiffel also worked for NASA and the Illinois Institute of Technology, and won a Peabody Award for his work on the radio program The World Tomorrow. His experience with broadcasting led him to invent the telestrator as a visual aid for his programming; Reiffel held over fifty different patents for his inventions.

Early life Reiffel was born in Chicago on September 30, 1927. His father was Carl Reiffel, a silversmith credited with inventing a slide saxophone. His mother, the former Sophie Miller, was a district superintendent in the Chicago public school system. The younger Reiffel attended Theodore Roosevelt High School, before earning a bachelor's and master's degree as well as a doctorate in electrical engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology between 1947 and 1953.

Career

Universities and inventions Reiffel began his career at the University of Chicago's Institute for Nuclear Studies, helping Enrico Fermi construct a 450-inch cyclotron. From there, Reiffel returned to the university at which he had studied, the Illinois Institute of Technology. Here, Reiffel was Group Vice President of the IIT Research Institute (formerly known as the Armour Research Foundation). During his tenure at the university, Reiffel created and patented over fifty different inventions, which earned him four separate R&D 100 Awards. Reiffel also collaborated with German scientists recruited in America as part of Operation Paperclip, working on an early prototype for a railgun.

NASA Reiffel was involved in several positions in NASA's Apollo program, moving from being a consultant on the possibility of life on the Moon to become deputy director of the project, a post he held from 1965 to 1969. During this time, Reiffel was also put in charge of Project A119, a United States Air Force project intending to detonate a nuclear warhead on the Moon. Reiffel worked alongside Carl Sagan and Gerard Kuiper on the project. Reiffel also chaired the Interagency Manned Space Flight Experiments Board for several years, a body which worked alongside NASA, the United States Air Force, and the United States Department of Defense.

Broadcasting Reiffel's work on radio and television has included Backyard Safari, Dimensions on Tomorrow's Living and The World Tomorrow. Backyard Safari was nominated for an Emmy Award, whilst Reiffel was honored with a Peabody Award in 1968 for his work on The World Tomorrow. Reiffel's time as a broadcaster led to him developing the telestrator, a device for drawing over still or moving video images; the device is now commonly employed by American football broadcasters while discussing plays. Reiffel first used the telestrator as part of Backyard Safari before convincing WBBM-TV weatherman John Coughlin to use it as part of his forecasts; it was from there that sports anchor Johnny Morris introduced its use to sports broadcasting.

Other work Reiffel also worked as an artwork authenticator for the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, investigating the authenticity of work by Édouard Manet in 2002. In 1979, he published the science fiction novel The Contaminant. He also acted as a consultant to the governments of Belarus and Ukraine following the Chernobyl incident; this experience led him to write an unpublished second novel about nuclear terrorism.

Death Reiffel died of complications from pancreatic cancer in Chicago on April 15, 2017. He was survived by his second wife Nancy Reiffel, and sons Evan and David.

Bibliography

Novels The contaminant. 1978.

Critical studies and reviews of Reiffel's work The contaminant Kaufsek, Thomas (July–August 2020). "[Untitled review]". Curiosities. F&SF. 139 (1&2): 258. Archived from the original on July 18, 2020.

Footnotes

References Kalte, Pamela M.; Nemeh, Katherine H. (2003). American Men & Women of Science: Q-S. Thomson/Gale. ISBN 0787665290. Ulivi, Paolo; Harland, David Michael (2004). Lunar Exploration: Human Pioneers and Robotic Surveyors. Springer. ISBN 1-85233-746-X.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Leonard Reiffel

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Leonard Reiffel 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 Leonard Reiffel 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 Leonard Reiffel 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 Leonard Reiffel

In research: Leonard Reiffel 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 Leonard Reiffel 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: Leonard Reiffel is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1927 births, 2017 deaths, American physicists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Leonard Reiffel 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 Leonard Reiffel in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Leonard Reiffel in simple terms?

Why does Leonard Reiffel 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 Leonard Reiffel?

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 Leonard Reiffel.