physics

R. A. McConnell

R. A. McConnell 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 R. A. McConnell rather than just read about it. In short: Robert A. McConnell (1914–2006) was an American physicist and parapsychologist.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Robert A. McConnell (1914–2006) was an American physicist and parapsychologist. McConnell was born in Pennsylvania in 1914, and studied at Carnegie Institute of Technology obtaining a B.S. in physics in 1935 and a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh in 1947. He worked as a physicist at a U.S. Naval aircraft factory and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Radiation Laboratory. He also worked in radar moving target indication, iconoscope, and ultrasonic microwaves. He earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in engineering physics. McConnell was the first president of the Parapsychological Association and a Fellow of the American Psychological Society. He was Research Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh.

Selected works Encounters with Parapsychology (1982, ISBN 0-9610232-1-X) Parapsychology and Self-Deception in Science (1983, ISBN 0-9610232-2-8) An Introduction to Parapsychology in the Context of Science (1983, ISBN 0-9610232-3-6) Parapsychology in Retrospect (1987, ISBN 0-9610232-4-4) Far Out in the New Age: The Subversion of Science by Cultural Communism (1995, ISBN 0-9610232-6-0) Joyride To Infinity: A Scientific Study of the Doomsday Literature (2000, ISBN 1-878465-35-X) God.org Are You There?: On the Deeper Meaning of ESP (2001, ISBN 0-9610232-8-7) Can We Win This War?: ISLAM (2002, ISBN 0-9610232-9-5)

References

External links Robert A. McConnell, from the Parapsychological Association site Home page of R. A. McConnell

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with R. A. McConnell

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what R. A. McConnell 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 R. A. McConnell 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 R. A. McConnell 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 R. A. McConnell

In research: R. A. McConnell 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 R. A. McConnell 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: R. A. McConnell is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1914 births, 2006 deaths, 20th-century American physicists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for R. A. McConnell 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 R. A. McConnell in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is R. A. McConnell in simple terms?

Robert A. McConnell (1914–2006) was an American physicist and parapsychologist.

Why does R. A. McConnell 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 R. A. McConnell?

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 R. A. McConnell.