astronomy

Neal Francis Lane

Neal Francis Lane 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 Neal Francis Lane rather than just read about it. In short: Cornelius Francis "Neal" Lane (born August 22, 1938), is an American physicist and senior fellow in science and technology policy at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy and Malcolm Gillis University Professor Emeritus of Physics and Astronomy Emeritus at Rice University in Houston, Texas. He has served as chancellor of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, provost of Rice University, and Sc…

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Cornelius Francis "Neal" Lane (born August 22, 1938), is an American physicist and senior fellow in science and technology policy at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy and Malcolm Gillis University Professor Emeritus of Physics and Astronomy Emeritus at Rice University in Houston, Texas. He has served as chancellor of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, provost of Rice University, and Science Advisor to the President (Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) during the Bill Clinton Administration). Lane lectures and writes on matters of science and technology policy.

Early life Lane was born in Oklahoma City in 1938, graduated from Southeast High School, and earned his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in physics from the University of Oklahoma. His thesis advisor was Chun Chia Lin.

Career

Research, teaching and administration Initially pursuing a career in teaching and research, Lane carried out post-doctoral studies in the Department of Applied Mathematics at Queen's University Belfast in Belfast, Northern Ireland, studying with Professor Alexander Dalgarno, and as a visiting fellow at the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (currently JILA), working with Dr. Sydney Geltman. He joined Rice University as an assistant professor in 1966 and was promoted to full professor of physics, space physics, and astronomy in 1972. His research contributions were all in the area of theoretical, atomic, and molecular physics, with an emphasis on electronic and atomic collision phenomena. On leave from Rice for the academic year 1979–1980, Lane served as director of the Division of Physics at the National Science Foundation (NSF). In 1984 he became chancellor of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, which was developing new graduate programs in science and engineering in response to the growing technology industry in the Pikes Peak region. Returning to Rice as provost in 1986, Lane served in this role until 1993, when he joined the Bill Clinton Administration as director of the NSF and ex officio member of the National Science Board.

National Science Foundation As Director of the NSF from 1993–1998, Lane focused on preserving the agency's emphasis on supporting fundamental research in all fields of science, mathematics and engineering. During Lane's tenure, the NSF was required to develop a formal long-range strategic plan in accordance with the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) of 1993. The NSF plan avoided prescriptive quantitative metrics and retained a discipline-based organization focused on funding excellent basic research, with expert peer review evaluation as the main criterion for success. On the programmatic side, the agency realigned and re-competed the NSF Supercomputer Centers, in response to rapid changes in scientific computing, and the NSF Science and Technology Centers. NSF also established the CAREER program for young investigators and began implementation of the first federal agency electronic system for proposal submission and review. During Lane's tenure, the NSF created the major research equipment budget line, which supported several construction projects, including the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO), the first GEMINI telescope, and the new Amundsen-Scott South Pole Research Station, part of the U.S. Antarctic Program. In response to employee needs, NSF established the first child-development center for its personnel. In April 1998, at one of Lane's last Congressional hearings as NSF Director, when asked to speculate on the future, he said: "If I were asked for an area of science and engineering that will most likely produce the breakthroughs of tomorrow I would point to nanoscale science and engineering, often called simply 'nanotechnology'."

White House Office of Science and Technology Policy In August 1998, Lane was appointed President Bill Clinton's science advisor, a dual position as assistant to the president for science and technology and director of the White House OSTP, the latter requiring Senate confirmation. As assistant to the president for science and technology, Lane also served as the federal co-chair of the President's Committee on Science and Technology (PCAST). As science advisor to President Clinton, Lane worked to promote the administration's science and technology initiatives and, specifically, championed the advancement of basic scientific research in the U.S. During Lane's tenure, the White House OSTP dealt with policies related to stem cell research, food safety, missile defense, climate change, the U.S. space program. (e.g., launch of the first elements of the International Space Station), and the Human Genome Project, (e.g., release of the first draft sequence of the human genome), the National Nanotechnology Initiative, and international cooperation in science and technology.

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Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Neal Francis Lane

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Neal Francis Lane 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 Neal Francis Lane 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 Neal Francis Lane 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 Neal Francis Lane

In research: Neal Francis Lane 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 Neal Francis Lane 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: Neal Francis Lane is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1938 births, 21st-century American physicists, Clinton administration personnel, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Neal Francis Lane 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 Neal Francis Lane in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Neal Francis Lane in simple terms?

Why does Neal Francis Lane 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 Neal Francis Lane?

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 Neal Francis Lane.