astronomy

Paul V. Roberts

Paul V. Roberts 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 Paul V. Roberts rather than just read about it. In short: Paul V. Roberts (November 27, 1938 - February 2006) was an American environmental engineer.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Paul V. Roberts (November 27, 1938 - February 2006) was an American environmental engineer. He made major contributions to environmental engineering by applying fundamental principles of mass transport and chemistry to drinking water treatment and wastewater reclamation research. An author of more than 200 scientific publications, he was a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the Swiss Academy of Sciences.

Biography Paul Roberts graduated with a BS degree in chemical engineering from Princeton University in 1960, and received a Ph.D. degree in chemical engineering from Cornell University in 1966. He taught at the Universidad Católica de Valparaíso and the Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María in Chile, and worked as a process engineer with Chevron Research Company in Richmond, California. In 1968, he joined the Stanford Research Institute in Menlo Park. After he received a M.S. degree in environmental engineering at Stanford University in 1971, he joined the Swiss Federal Institute of Water Supply and Water Pollution Control. In 1976 he left his position as the head of the engineering department at the Institute and began his career at Stanford. In 1989 Roberts was named the C.L. Peck, Class of 1906 Professor in the School of Engineering. He died of leukemia in February, 2006, at his home in Cupertino.

Major contributions

Paul Roberts was a pioneer in applying fundamental principles of mass transport and chemistry to engineered environmental systems. His broad body of work spans such topics as reclaimed wastewater, drinking water disinfection, adsorption and volatilization of organic contaminants during water and wastewater treatment, contaminant transport in groundwater, and multiphase flow in porous media. He is perhaps best known for conceiving and directing the first and probably the most definitive field study ever conducted on the movement and fate of hazardous chemicals in groundwater at the Borden site in Canada. In this study, his team clearly demonstrated the scientific value of carefully designed large-scale field experiments to test hypotheses, to validate mathematical models, to generate understanding of important natural processes, and to uncover still more important questions in need of better theoretical understanding.

Awards and distinctions United States Environmental Protection Agency Scientific and Technical Achievement Award (1989) United States National Committee of the International Association on Water Pollution Research and Control Founders Award (1990) Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors Founders Award (2003) American Water Works Association Academic Achievement Award Elected member of the National Academy of Engineering (1997)

Obituary An obituary (page 5) in the newsletter of the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Paul V. Roberts

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Paul V. Roberts 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 Paul V. Roberts 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 Paul V. Roberts 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 Paul V. Roberts

In research: Paul V. Roberts 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 Paul V. Roberts 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: Paul V. Roberts is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1938 births, 2006 deaths, Academic staff of the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Paul V. Roberts 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 Paul V. Roberts in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Paul V. Roberts in simple terms?

Paul V. Roberts (November 27, 1938 - February 2006) was an American environmental engineer.

Why does Paul V. Roberts 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 Paul V. Roberts?

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 Paul V. Roberts.