physics

Maurice Picon

Maurice Picon 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 Maurice Picon rather than just read about it. In short: Maurice Picon (27 July 1931 – 16 November 2014) was a French physicist and archaeologist, and a pioneer of archaeometry in France. Biography Maurice Picon was born on 27 July 1931 in Wittelsheim and died in Lyon on 16 November 2014.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Maurice Picon (27 July 1931 – 16 November 2014) was a French physicist and archaeologist, and a pioneer of archaeometry in France.

Biography Maurice Picon was born on 27 July 1931 in Wittelsheim and died in Lyon on 16 November 2014. His funeral was held at 10am on 22 November 2014 in the Church of Saint-Martin, Oullins. His son, Antoine Picon, is professor of the History of Architecture at Harvard Graduate School of Design; his daughter, Anne-Françoise, is a teacher of mathematics in Paris.

Work In 1987, Picon was the founder of the Groupe des Méthodes Physico-Chimiques contribuant à l'Archéologie (GMPCA), an association for the promotion, development and recognition of archaeometry in France. It was open to all disciplines contributing to the field of archaeology and welcomed, most notably, natural scientists (geoarchaeologists, archaeozoologists, archaeobotanists etc.). It became the Groupe des Méthodes Pluridisciplinaires contribuant à l'archéologie. In 2001, Maurice Picon established the ceramology laboratory of the Maison de l’Orient at Lyon. This is a recognise unit of the French CNRS (UMR 5138) and is now known as the ARAR (Archéologie et Archéométrie). Maurice Picon's personal library and archives have been donated by his family to the Centre d’Etudes Alexandrines (CEAlex). During celebrations to mark the 25th anniversary of the CEAlex, on 24 May 2015, The Maurice Picon Library was inaugurated along with a permanent website with access to his published works.

Bibliography In honour of Maurice Picon, the CEAlex (USR 3134, CNRS) has constructed a database of works published by Maurice Picon using a list of publications he himself assembled up to the year 2000, and an inventory of subsequent publications. More than two thirds of the references can be downloaded through the CEAlex and other websites.

Notes

External links Maurice Picon page at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France Tributes to Maurice Picon Web site of Maison de l'Orient Web site of “Céramopôle”, University of Aix-Marseille Web site camortola.pt

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Maurice Picon

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Maurice Picon 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 Maurice Picon 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 Maurice Picon 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 Maurice Picon

In research: Maurice Picon 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 Maurice Picon 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: Maurice Picon is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1931 births, 2014 deaths, French archaeologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Maurice Picon 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 Maurice Picon in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Maurice Picon in simple terms?

Maurice Picon (27 July 1931 – 16 November 2014) was a French physicist and archaeologist, and a pioneer of archaeometry in France. Biography Maurice Picon was born on 27 July 1931 in Wittelsheim and died in Lyon on 16 November 2014.

Why does Maurice Picon 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 Maurice Picon?

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 Maurice Picon.