physics

Mark Josephson

Mark Josephson 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 Mark Josephson rather than just read about it. In short: Mark E. Josephson (1943-2017) was an American cardiologist and writer, who was in the 1970s one of the American pioneers of the medical cardiology subspecialty of cardiac electrophysiology.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Mark E. Josephson (1943-2017) was an American cardiologist and writer, who was in the 1970s one of the American pioneers of the medical cardiology subspecialty of cardiac electrophysiology. His book titled Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology: Techniques and Interpretations is widely acknowledged as the definitive treatment of the discipline. He served as Herman Dana Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, director of the Harvard-Thorndike Electrophysiology Institute and Arrhythmia Service and the chief of cardiology at Harvard University's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

Career Josephson was a graduate of Trinity College in Connecticut and subsequently went to medical school at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He completed his residency training in Internal Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City and his cardiology fellowship at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. After spending two years as a research associate with Anthony Damato at the Staten Island Public Health Service Hospital, he published articles on the electrophysiologic basis and anatomic location of AV nodal reentry and map-guided subendocardial resection to cure ventricular tachycardia, a procedure Time dubbed "the Pennsylvania Peel" in honor of the Penn cardiology department's surgical innovation. Josephson's work helped to transform electrophysiology from a research field to a powerful clinical discipline for treating patients. Josephson has published over 400 original journal articles and 200 book chapters and reviews and is the author of the textbook of clinical cardiac electrophysiology, Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology: Techniques and Interpretations. First published in 1979, the book has run to seven editions. Josephson worked closely over the years with European cardiac electrophysiology pioneer Hein Wellens, chief of cardiology emeritus at the University of Limburg in Maastricht, Netherlands. For over 30 years, they coached together at high-yield "How to Approach Complex Arrhythmias" course for cardiologists and EP fellows. In the 2000s, they initiated an advanced course "Intracardiac Unknowns" which was attended by most electrophysiology trainees in the USA for over 10 years.

Awards Throughout his career Josephson won numerous awards. This includes the Career Achievement Award from the University of California San Francisco Medical School as well as the University Medal for Excellence from Columbia University as well as the Distinguished Teacher Award. He has been given the Pioneer Award in Cardiac Pacing and Electrophysiology from the Heart Rhythm Society. He also received the American Heart Association's Paul Dudley White Award and the Eugene Braunwald Academic Mentorship Award.

Personal Josephson and his wife, Joan, married in 1967 and remained married until her death in June 2016. They had two children. He died on January 11, 2017, from cancer, leaving behind two daughters: Rachael and Stephanie Josephsons.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Mark Josephson

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Mark Josephson 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 Mark Josephson 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 Mark Josephson 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 Mark Josephson

In research: Mark Josephson 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 Mark Josephson 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: Mark Josephson is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1943 births, 2017 deaths, American cardiologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Mark Josephson 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 Mark Josephson in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Mark Josephson in simple terms?

Mark E. Josephson (1943-2017) was an American cardiologist and writer, who was in the 1970s one of the American pioneers of the medical cardiology subspecialty of cardiac electrophysiology.

Why does Mark Josephson 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 Mark Josephson?

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 Mark Josephson.