physics

Max Cosyns

Max Cosyns 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 Max Cosyns rather than just read about it. In short: Max Cosyns (29 May 1906 – 30 March 1998) was a Belgian physicist, inventor, explorer and speleologist. Early life and education Max Cosyns was Auguste Piccard's assistant at the Université libre de Bruxelles and on 18 August 1932 participated in the record-breaking ascent into the stratosphere to 16,200 m (53,152 ft), launched from Dübendorf, Switzerland.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Max Cosyns (29 May 1906 – 30 March 1998) was a Belgian physicist, inventor, explorer and speleologist.

Early life and education Max Cosyns was Auguste Piccard's assistant at the Université libre de Bruxelles and on 18 August 1932 participated in the record-breaking ascent into the stratosphere to 16,200 m (53,152 ft), launched from Dübendorf, Switzerland. For this he was awarded the Cross of Knight of the Order of Leopold by the Belgian King in 1932.

Career On 18 August 1934, Cosyns together with his student Nérée van der Elst piloted a balloon to an altitude of 52,952 feet. Following a take-off from Hour-Havenne in Belgium, they flew over Germany and Austria before landing near the village of Ženavlje (now in Slovenia). They were unsuccessful in maintaining satisfactory radio communication with ground, but were able to make observations of the currents in the stratosphere as well as investigate the nature of the cosmic rays. They failed to beat the height record, but stated on landing that they were fully satisfied with their discoveries. A large bronze monument in the shape of a balloon was erected in 1997 on the spot of their landing in Ženavlje to commemorate the event.

Second World War resistance In the Second World War, he joined the Resistance and was imprisoned in Dachau concentration camp. After the war he was co-director of the FNRS-2 bathyscaphe expedition in Dakar in 1948. In 1952, he was in charge of the speleological expedition to the Gouffre de La Pierre Saint-Martin cave system in the Pyrenees. The French speleologist Marcel Loubens, died in an accident with an electric hoist during the ascent after spending four days in the cave when the steel cable snapped. Cosyns as head of the expedition and due to his involvement in the design of the winch was considered responsible for the accident.

Personal life Cosyns married fellow Belgian resistance member and lawyer Andrée Grandjean.

Notes

External links CIA notable flights and achievements Part 6, 1926–1950 Newspaper clippings about Max Cosyns in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Max Cosyns

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Max Cosyns 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 Max Cosyns 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 Max Cosyns 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 Max Cosyns

In research: Max Cosyns 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 Max Cosyns 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: Max Cosyns is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1906 births, 1998 deaths, Belgian aviation record holders, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Max Cosyns 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 Max Cosyns in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Max Cosyns in simple terms?

Max Cosyns (29 May 1906 – 30 March 1998) was a Belgian physicist, inventor, explorer and speleologist. Early life and education Max Cosyns was Auguste Piccard's assistant at the Université libre de Bruxelles and on 18 August 1932 participated in the record-breaking ascent into the stratosphere to 1…

Why does Max Cosyns 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 Max Cosyns?

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 Max Cosyns.