physics

Marilyn Gunner

Marilyn Gunner 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 Marilyn Gunner rather than just read about it. In short: Marilyn Gunner is a physics professor at the City College of New York (CUNY) and a Fellow of the American Physical Society. She is known for her work on molecular biophysics and structural biology.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Marilyn Gunner is a physics professor at the City College of New York (CUNY) and a Fellow of the American Physical Society. She is known for her work on molecular biophysics and structural biology.

Education Gunner received her B.A. from the State University of New York (Binghamton). She completed her Ph.D. in 1988 at the University of Pennsylvania, where she worked on topics such as electron transfer in proteins with Leslie Dutton.

Career and research Gunner previously worked in Barry Honig's lab at Columbia University, where she studied the electrostatic control of proteins. She is now a professor in the physics department at CUNY where she has continued to study protein interactions. As of 2021, her 140 publications have been cited over 5,800 times. She is the lead investigator of the Multi-Conformation Continuum Electrostatics (MCCE) project, which is "a biophysics simulation program combining continuum electrostatics and molecular mechanics." Gunner was also part of a collaboration which measured the efficiency of energy storage in cyanobacteria, work that could have implications for astrobiology. In 2006, Gunner served as the chair of the Division of Biological Physics in the American Physical Society. She currently serves as a member of the editorial board for both the Journal of the Royal Society Interface and Biochimica et Biophysica Acta – Bioenergetics. Gunner has also served as both a general member and a member of the board of directors for the Telluride Science Research Center.

Awards and recognition The Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (1996): "For biophysics of proteins" Fellow of the American Physical Society, Division of Biological Physics (2007): "For her work in both experimental and theoretical studies of electron and proton transfer processes in proteins, in particular for her beautiful work coupling the theory of electrostatic interactions to the dynamics of charge transfer in photosynthetic reaction centers, and in recognition of her service to the Division of Biological Physics."

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Marilyn Gunner

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Marilyn Gunner 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 Marilyn Gunner 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 Marilyn Gunner 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 Marilyn Gunner

In research: Marilyn Gunner 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 Marilyn Gunner 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: Marilyn Gunner is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 21st-century American physicists, 21st-century women physicists, American physicist stubs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Marilyn Gunner 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 Marilyn Gunner in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Marilyn Gunner in simple terms?

Marilyn Gunner is a physics professor at the City College of New York (CUNY) and a Fellow of the American Physical Society. She is known for her work on molecular biophysics and structural biology.

Why does Marilyn Gunner 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 Marilyn Gunner?

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 Marilyn Gunner.