astronomy

Liu Guangding

Liu Guangding 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 Liu Guangding rather than just read about it. In short: Liu Guangding (simplified Chinese: 刘光鼎; traditional Chinese: 劉光鼎; pinyin: Liǘ Guāngdǐng; 29 December 1929 – 7 August 2018) was a Chinese geophysicist best known for his work in geophysics, marine geology and petroleum geology. He had been hailed as "Father of Chinese marine geology".

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Liu Guangding (simplified Chinese: 刘光鼎; traditional Chinese: 劉光鼎; pinyin: Liǘ Guāngdǐng; 29 December 1929 – 7 August 2018) was a Chinese geophysicist best known for his work in geophysics, marine geology and petroleum geology. He had been hailed as "Father of Chinese marine geology". He was a member of the 8th and 9th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Biography Liu was born in Beijing on December 29, 1929, with his ancestral home in Penglai, Shandong. His father Liu Benzhao (Chinese: 刘本钊) was a scholar. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Liu's father fled Japanese-occupied Shandong. In 1940, his eldest brother Li Guangdou (刘光斗) became deranged and went missing after being arrested and tortured by the Japanese. Devastated by the loss, his mother Dong Lin committed suicide at the age of 48. In September 1941, Liu moved to Beijing to live with his uncle. He was educated at Jingcun Middle School and Chengda Middle School, before going on to study at Fu Jen Catholic High School. In 1947 he was accepted to Shandong University. On September 9, 1948. Liu joined the Chinese Communist Party under the introduction of Zhang Shuowen (Chinese: 张硕文). That same year, he entered Peking University and then taught there for more than 12 years. In 1958, he organized China's first marine geophysical exploration team and headed the team. During the Cultural Revolution, Liu suffered political persecution. In 1980 he was elected a fellow of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, where he served as director of its Institute of Geophysics from 1989 to 1993. In 1993 he was elected director-general of Chinese Geophysical Society. In 1998 he was elected an academician of The World Academy of Sciences. Liu won two second prizes of the State Natural Science Award, in 1982 and 1995, respectively. Liu died on August 7, 2018, aged 89.

Personal life Liu had a son and a daughter.

Awards Science and Technology Award of the Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation Second Class Prize of State Natural Science Award Li Siguang Science Honor Award Special Prize for Technology and Progress of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Liu Guangding

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Liu Guangding 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 Liu Guangding 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 Liu Guangding 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 Liu Guangding

In research: Liu Guangding 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 Liu Guangding 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: Liu Guangding is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1929 births, 2018 deaths, Academic staff of Peking University, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Liu Guangding 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 Liu Guangding in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Liu Guangding in simple terms?

Why does Liu Guangding 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 Liu Guangding?

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 Liu Guangding.