physics

Pieter Winsemius

Pieter Winsemius 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 Pieter Winsemius rather than just read about it. In short: Pieter Winsemius (born 7 March 1942) is a retired Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and businessman. Winsemius worked as a researcher at the Leiden University from February 1966 until October 1970 and as a management consultant at the McKinsey & Company from October 1970 until November 1982.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Pieter Winsemius (born 7 March 1942) is a retired Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and businessman. Winsemius worked as a researcher at the Leiden University from February 1966 until October 1970 and as a management consultant at the McKinsey & Company from October 1970 until November 1982. After the election of 1982 Winsemius was appointed as Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment in the Cabinet Lubbers I, taking office on 4 November 1982. After the election of 1986 Winsemius was not given a ministerial post in the new cabinet. The Cabinet Lubbers I was replaced by the Cabinet Lubbers II on 14 July 1986. Winsemius semi-retired from active politics and returned to the private sector and the public sector and occupied numerous seats as a corporate director and nonprofit director on several board of directors and supervisory boards (World Wide Fund for Nature, Vereniging Natuurmonumenten, Stichting Max Havelaar, European Centre for Nature Conservation, Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP and the Energy Research Centre) and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government (Organisation for Scientific Research, National Insurance Bank, Staatsbosbeheer, Meteorological Institute and the Scientific Council for Government Policy). Winsemius also returned as a senior management consultant of the McKinsey & Company from August 1986 until October 1992 and served as a distinguished professor of Environmental management at the Tilburg University from 1 October 1999 until 1 September 2012. Winsemius was appointed again as Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment in the caretaker Cabinet Balkenende III following the resignation of Sybilla Dekker, taking office on 26 September 2006. The Cabinet Balkenende III was replaced by the Cabinet Balkenende IV on 22 February 2007. Following the end of his active political career, Winsemius again returned to the private sector and the public sector and resumed his previous positions (Vereniging Natuurmonumenten, Energy Research Centre, Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP and the Scientific Council for Government Policy) and as an advocate, lobbyist and activist for Conservation, Environmentalism, Sustainable development and Climate change issues.

Political career Winsemius is the son of economist Albert Winsemius. Trained as a physics scientist, and active as partner in the business consultancy firm McKinsey, he was Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (VROM) in the First Lubbers cabinet, on behalf of the VVD. As a young minister, he brought environmental laws to effect, including the rules for environmental impact assessments. After his ministerial period, he became chairman of the Vereniging Natuurmonumenten. On 22 September 2006, he again became minister of VROM, temporarily succeeding Sybilla Dekker during the Third Balkenende cabinet, until a completely new government had been formed on 22 February 2007 and he was succeeded by Jacqueline Cramer. Since 2003 until 21 November 2012, he has been member of the Scientific Council for Government Policy, for which he was awarded the grade of Commander of the Order of Orange-Nassau upon his retirement. Winsemius has written books about management and social issues, including Speel nooit een uitwedstrijd (lit. 'never play away games') (1988), in which he compared managing to professional soccer. During the 1980s, Winsemius was co-host of the television show Aktua in bedrijf.

Academic career Since October 1999, Winsemius holds a professorate for Management of Sustainable Development, at the Tilburg University. On 7 March 2007, he was elected as most influential sustainable Dutchman in the De Duurzame 100 investigation by the newspaper Trouw and broadcasting group LLink.

Decorations

References

External links Official (in Dutch) Prof.Dr. P. (Pieter) Winsemius Parlement & Politiek

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Pieter Winsemius

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Pieter Winsemius 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 Pieter Winsemius 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 Pieter Winsemius 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 Pieter Winsemius

In research: Pieter Winsemius 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 Pieter Winsemius 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: Pieter Winsemius is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1942 births, 20th-century Dutch businesspeople, 20th-century Dutch civil servants, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Pieter Winsemius 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 Pieter Winsemius in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Pieter Winsemius in simple terms?

Why does Pieter Winsemius 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 Pieter Winsemius?

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 Pieter Winsemius.