astronomy

The Stars in Their Courses

The Stars in Their Courses 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 The Stars in Their Courses rather than just read about it. In short: The Stars in Their Courses is a collection of seventeen scientific essays by American writer Isaac Asimov. It is the eighth in a series of books collecting his essays from The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (May 1969 to September 1970).

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

The Stars in Their Courses is a collection of seventeen scientific essays by American writer Isaac Asimov. It is the eighth in a series of books collecting his essays from The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (May 1969 to September 1970). Doubleday & Company first published the collection in 1971.

Contents Introduction Part A: Astronomy "The Stars in their Courses" "The Lop-sided Sun" "The Lunar Honor-roll" "Worlds in Confusion" Part B: Physics "Two at a Time" "On Throwing a Ball" "The Man Who Massed the Earth" "The Luxon Wall" "Playing the Game" "The Distance of Far" Part C: Chemistry "The Multiplying Elements" "Bridging the Gaps" "The Nobel Prize That Wasn't" Part D: Sociology "The Fateful Lightning" "The Sin of the Scientist" "The Power of Progression" "My Planet, 'tis of Thee—"

References

External links Asimovonline.com

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with The Stars in Their Courses

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what The Stars in Their Courses 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 The Stars in Their Courses 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 The Stars in Their Courses 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 The Stars in Their Courses

In research: The Stars in Their Courses 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 The Stars in Their Courses 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: The Stars in Their Courses is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1971 non-fiction books, Doubleday (publisher) books, Essay collections by Isaac Asimov, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for The Stars in Their Courses 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 The Stars in Their Courses in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is The Stars in Their Courses in simple terms?

Why does The Stars in Their Courses 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 The Stars in Their Courses?

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 The Stars in Their Courses.