astronomy

Maw-Kuen Wu

Maw-Kuen Wu 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 Maw-Kuen Wu rather than just read about it. In short: Maw-Kuen Wu (Chinese: 吳茂昆; pinyin: Wú Màokūn; born December 6, 1949) is a Taiwanese physicist specializing in superconductivity, low-temperature physics, and high-pressure physics. He was a professor of physics at University of Alabama in Huntsville, Columbia University, and National Tsing Hua University, the Director of the Institute of Physics at Academia Sinica, the President of National Dong Hwa University, and…

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Maw-Kuen Wu (Chinese: 吳茂昆; pinyin: Wú Màokūn; born December 6, 1949) is a Taiwanese physicist specializing in superconductivity, low-temperature physics, and high-pressure physics. He was a professor of physics at University of Alabama in Huntsville, Columbia University, and National Tsing Hua University, the Director of the Institute of Physics at Academia Sinica, the President of National Dong Hwa University, and is currently a distinguished research fellow of the Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica, and international member of National Academy of Sciences.

Early life and education Born in Yuli Township, Hualien County, Wu is an ethnic Hokkien on his paternal side and spent his childhood in Taiwan. After graduating with a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in physics from Tamkang University, he completed doctoral studies in the United States at the University of Houston, where he earned his Ph.D. in physics in 1981. His doctoral dissertation was titled, "High pressure study on some unusual magnetic and superconducting materials".

Career Wu worked as a research scientist at his alma mater for two years, before being taken on as an assistant professor of physics at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, and then subsequently promoted to professor in 1987. Along with Chu Ching-wu and Jim Ashburn, Wu made the historic discovery of superconductivity above 77 K in YBCO in 1987. According to the Science Citation Index by Web of Science, Wu's 1987 work "Superconductivity at 93 K in a new mixed-phase Y-Ba-Cu-O compound system at ambient pressure" in Physical Review Letters (American Physical Society) has been cited for more than five thousand times by journal articles and is considered influential in applied science and business. Wu was then invited to teach at the National Tsing Hua University, and conduct further research in high-temperature superconductivity. Maw-Kuen Wu first entered the cabinet; served as minister of the National Science Council from 2004 to 2006. In 2018, he was named as the minister of the Ministry of Education and resigned after 41 days. Wu was subsequently impeached by the Control Yuan, which charged him with violating the Public Functionary Service Act and the Act on the Recusal of Public Servants Due to Conflict of Interest.

Personal life Maw-Kuen Wu and his wife have two children.

Academic honors 1988 USA Chinese Association of Engineering Annual Award 1988 State of Alabama Resolution 1988 University of Alabama Research Award 1988 U.S.A. National Academy of Sciences Comstock Prize 1989 Tamkang Golden Eagle Award 1994 Fellow, Chinese Physical Society 1994 Bernd T. Matthias Prize 1995 Y. T. Lee Outstanding Scientist Award 1998 NASA Special Awards 1998 Member, Academia Sinica 2007 Ettore Majorana-Erice-Science for Peace Prize 2009 Taiwanese-American Foundation (TAF) Award 2010-03 Germany Humboldt Research Award

References

External links

Professor Wu's profile at Academia Sinica

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Maw-Kuen Wu

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Maw-Kuen Wu 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 Maw-Kuen Wu 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 Maw-Kuen Wu 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 Maw-Kuen Wu

In research: Maw-Kuen Wu 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 Maw-Kuen Wu 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: Maw-Kuen Wu is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1949 births, 20th-century Taiwanese physicists, 21st-century Taiwanese physicists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Maw-Kuen Wu 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 Maw-Kuen Wu in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Maw-Kuen Wu in simple terms?

Why does Maw-Kuen Wu 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 Maw-Kuen Wu?

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 Maw-Kuen Wu.