physics

Richard Victor Jones

Richard Victor Jones 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 Richard Victor Jones rather than just read about it. In short: Richard Victor Jones (1929 – November 11, 2019) was a professor of applied physics at Harvard University and a pioneer in semiconductors. He was one of the first four recruits by William Shockley to help develop technologies at Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Richard Victor Jones (1929 – November 11, 2019) was a professor of applied physics at Harvard University and a pioneer in semiconductors. He was one of the first four recruits by William Shockley to help develop technologies at Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory.

Early life Jones was a first-generation child of Welsh immigrants. He attended university at Berkeley, where he performed his thesis research on magnetic resonance under Carson D. Jeffries.

Career During the winter of 1954–1955, William Shockley decided to seek a sponsor to help him establish production of complex transistors and his own Shockley diodes. He was initially supported by Raytheon, but the agreement was soon canceled by that company. After Shockley subsequently established Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory under the umbrella of Beckman Instruments, he recruited William W. Happ who he knew from Raytheon. Shockley's other three initial recruits were George Smoot Horsley and Leopoldo B. Valdes both of whom he knew from Bell Labs, and Jones, who was then a new Berkeley graduate. Jones remained with Shockley for two years until 1957 when he left to teach physics at Harvard. From 1964 to 1982, he was the Gordon McKay Professor of Applied Physics and in 1982 he was named Robert L. Wallace Professor. Much of his teaching and research at Harvard was focused on physics information technology, including acoustical and optical signals used to process and obtain information (applied to fields such as seismic exploration, optical computing, medical ultrasonics and acoustic microscopy) wave phenomena and digital electronics. In 1960, he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Richard Victor Jones

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Richard Victor Jones 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 Richard Victor Jones 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 Richard Victor Jones 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 Richard Victor Jones

In research: Richard Victor Jones 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 Richard Victor Jones 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: Richard Victor Jones is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1929 births, 2019 deaths, 20th-century American physicists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Richard Victor Jones 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 Richard Victor Jones in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Richard Victor Jones in simple terms?

Why does Richard Victor Jones 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 Richard Victor Jones?

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 Richard Victor Jones.