astronomy

Rick Potts

Rick Potts 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 Rick Potts rather than just read about it. In short: Richard B. Potts is a paleoanthropologist and has been the director of the Smithsonian Institution Museum of Natural History's Human Origins Program since 1985.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Richard B. Potts is a paleoanthropologist and has been the director of the Smithsonian Institution Museum of Natural History's Human Origins Program since 1985. He is the curator of the David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins at the Smithsonian.

Life

Potts graduated from Temple University in his hometown of Philadelphia. In 1982 Potts received his doctorate in biological anthropology from Harvard University. Prior to joining the Smithsonian Institution he taught at Yale University and was its Peabody Museum of Natural History curator of Physical Anthropology. He has been involved with early human excavation sites in Africa and Asia. His focus is on how human adaptation and evolution were in response to continuous changes in their environment over time.

Selected publications Potts, Rick; Chris Sloan (2010-03-09). What Does It Mean to Be Human?. Washington, D.C: National Geographic. ISBN 9781426206061. Potts, Rick (1997-05-28). Humanity's Descent: The Consequences of Ecological Instability. William Morrow. ISBN 0380715236.

See also Dawn of Humanity (2015 PBS film)

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Rick Potts

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Rick Potts 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 Rick Potts 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 Rick Potts 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 Rick Potts

In research: Rick Potts 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 Rick Potts 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: Rick Potts is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 20th-century American anthropologists, 21st-century American anthropologists, American curators, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Rick Potts 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 Rick Potts in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Rick Potts in simple terms?

Richard B. Potts is a paleoanthropologist and has been the director of the Smithsonian Institution Museum of Natural History's Human Origins Program since 1985.

Why does Rick Potts 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 Rick Potts?

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 Rick Potts.