chemistry

Phil Shevlin

Phil Shevlin is a chemistry 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 Phil Shevlin rather than just read about it. In short: Philip B. Shevlin is an American experimental chemist.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Philip B. Shevlin is an American experimental chemist. Before his retirement, Shevlin served as the Mosley Professor of Science and Humanities at Auburn University. His special field of expertise is centered on the chemistry of high energy reactive intermediates. These intermediates include atomic carbon, carbenes, monovalent carbon species, and other energetic molecules. Shevlin is also involved in the synthesis of a variety of carbocyclic and heterocyclic nucleoside analogs.

Education Shevlin completed his Bachelor of Science degree at Lafayette College and his Master of Science and PhD at Yale University.

Career After completing two years of post-doctoral work at Brookhaven National Laboratory, Shevlin accepted an assistant professorship in the Department of Chemistry at Auburn University (AU) in 1970. Upon joining the faculty at AU, Shevlin was awarded a grant from the American Chemical Society to study the production of carbon atoms in the decomposition of 5-diazotetrazole. He was promoted to associate professor of chemistry in 1974 In an effort to "encourage excellence in teaching and research among faculty," Shevlin was named AU's Alumni Associate Professor of Chemistry in 1977. He was named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1993. In 1998, Shelvin was named the W. Kelly Mosley Professor of Sciences and Humanities.

Books Shevlin, P. B. and Campbell, O. A.. Concepts of Science; Kendall/Hunt: Dubuque, IA, 2nd Edition, 1995. Shevlin, P. B., Concepts of Science; Kendall/Hunt: Dubuque, IA, 1993.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Phil Shevlin

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Phil Shevlin claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, 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 Phil Shevlin 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 Phil Shevlin 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 Phil Shevlin

In research: Phil Shevlin appears in chemistry 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 Phil Shevlin 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: Phil Shevlin is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 21st-century American chemists, American chemist stubs, Auburn University faculty, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Phil Shevlin 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.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Phil Shevlin” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Phil Shevlin in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Phil Shevlin in simple terms?

Philip B. Shevlin is an American experimental chemist.

Why does Phil Shevlin matter?

Because it connects several chemistry 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 Phil Shevlin?

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 Phil Shevlin.