physics

Stanley Martin Flatté

Stanley Martin Flatté 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 Stanley Martin Flatté rather than just read about it. In short: Stanley Martin Flatté (2 December 1940, Los Angeles – 4 November 2007) was a particle physicist and expert on wave propagation in atmospheric optics, ocean acoustics, and seismology. Biography Flatté received in 1962 a B.S. in physics from California Institute of Technology and in 1966 a Ph.D. in physics from UC Berkeley.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Stanley Martin Flatté (2 December 1940, Los Angeles – 4 November 2007) was a particle physicist and expert on wave propagation in atmospheric optics, ocean acoustics, and seismology.

Biography Flatté received in 1962 a B.S. in physics from California Institute of Technology and in 1966 a Ph.D. in physics from UC Berkeley. After 5 years as a research physicist at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, he joined in 1971 the UC Santa Cruz faculty, where he remained until his retirement in 2004. At UCSC he was affiliated with the Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics, the Institute of Marine Sciences, and the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics. In 1970 he joined JASON.

In the area of particle physics, the Flatté Parametrization he developed is still used to describe the decay of certain kinds of mesons (fundamental particles made of quarks and antiquarks). Flatté's work on ocean acoustics began in the mid-1970s and continued for more than two decades. He helped develop a new paradigm in understanding sound transmission in the ocean. In the 1990s, he was involved in the Acoustic Thermometry of Ocean Climate (ATOC) experiment, which aimed to track the average temperature of the ocean using sound waves.In the area of atmospheric optics, Flatté studied the propagation of light waves through atmospheric turbulence. This work led to a collaboration with Claire Max, a pioneer in the field of adaptive optics for telescopes and now director of the Center for Adaptive Optics at UCSC and a professor of astronomy and astrophysics.In seismology, Flatté contributed to research on the scattering of seismic waves in the deep Earth. Geophysicist Ru-Shan Wu came to UCSC in 1986 to work with Flatté on scattering theory. Thorne Lay, professor of Earth and planetary sciences, said this collaboration led to the development by Wu of important techniques used by the oil exploration industry. Upon his death, Flatté was survived by his wife, a son, a daughter, and six grandchildren.

Awards and honors Guggenheim Fellow (academic year 1975–1976) Fellow of the Optical Society of America (elected 1996) Fellow of the American Physical Society (elected 1997) Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

References

External links Isaac Newton: The Man — A Delphasus Lecture by Dr. Stanley M. Flatté

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Stanley Martin Flatté

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Stanley Martin Flatté 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 Stanley Martin Flatté 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 Stanley Martin Flatté 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 Stanley Martin Flatté

In research: Stanley Martin Flatté 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 Stanley Martin Flatté 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: Stanley Martin Flatté is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1940 births, 2007 deaths, 20th-century American physicists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Stanley Martin Flatté 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 Stanley Martin Flatté in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Stanley Martin Flatté in simple terms?

Stanley Martin Flatté (2 December 1940, Los Angeles – 4 November 2007) was a particle physicist and expert on wave propagation in atmospheric optics, ocean acoustics, and seismology. Biography Flatté received in 1962 a B.S. in physics from California Institute of Technology and in 1966 a Ph.D. in p…

Why does Stanley Martin Flatté 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 Stanley Martin Flatté?

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 Stanley Martin Flatté.