astronomy

Thomas Avinger

Thomas Avinger 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 Thomas Avinger rather than just read about it. In short: Thomas Avinger (Weslaco, Texas, September 28, 1928 – Houston, Texas, November 18, 2000) was an American composer, conductor and systems analyst for the oil industry. Biography Born in Weslaco, Texas, he taught himself to play the piano at the age of 19.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Thomas Avinger (Weslaco, Texas, September 28, 1928 – Houston, Texas, November 18, 2000) was an American composer, conductor and systems analyst for the oil industry.

Biography Born in Weslaco, Texas, he taught himself to play the piano at the age of 19. He attended Edinburg Junior College (which later became the University of Texas–Pan American and more recently became the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley). He then graduated from Baylor University in 1952 with a Bachelor of Music degree and a Master of Music degree in 1957. Between his college degrees (from September 1952 to June 1954), he was stationed with the United States Army at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, where he was the musical director of the Soldiers' Section of Special Services. After completing his graduate work, he began working for the Humble Oil and Refining Company (now part of Exxon-Mobil, USA). He spent the next forty years there as a systems analyst. He was married to JoAnn Avinger for 45 years, and they had two sons, Erich and Peter.

Music Avinger was comfortable with his career in technology while also composing music when possible, saying "I think I have the best of both worlds. I have the satisfaction of a corporate career that I enjoy and the pleasure of composing music and hearing it performed. One doesn't have to choose between the arts and business today." Like the better-known Charles Ives, he was not a full-time musician or composer, yet he completed at least 50 musical works, including a one-act opera, a ballet suite, orchestral works with chorus, and various smaller works for chorus, piano, chamber ensembles, and art songs. His musical style has been compared to Shostakovich's for its "lofty, inspiring melodies and startling romantic passages". During his lifetime, his works were performed by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for a composers conference moderated by Darius Milhaud and at Baylor University, Eastern Illinois University, the Moores School of Music, and many churches and smaller venues in Texas. As a performing musician, Avinger conducted and sang in numerous choirs and was the assistant conductor of the Houston Symphony Chorale.

Compositions Stage works

What Makes You So Grand?, musical comedy in two acts, 1948 The Stranger (Rupert Brooke play), opera in one act, 1951–52 Goblin Market, ballet, 1960 Instrumental and keyboard

Theme and Variations, piano, 1950 Variations on a Theme of Melancholy, wind septet, 1951 Introduction and Fugato, string quartet, 1954 First Piano Sonata, 1968 First Violin Sonata, 1968 Large choral works

The Song of Songs which is Solomon's (Song of Songs, oratorio, 1954–55, revised 1968 A Cantata for Christmastide, cantata, 1972 Short choral works

Psalm I, 1959 Love Came Down At Christmas (Christina Rossetti), 1959 Five Qumran Hymns, 1960 Solo voice

Dead Men's Love Rupert Brooke, 1950 The Treasure Rupert Brooke, 1951 Four Folk Songs from Green Grow the Lilacs, 1952 Miner Boy Young Men Will Go Courtin' Custer's Last Stand Green Grow the Lilacs The Man in the Closed Ward (Theodore Thieme), tenor and piano, 1953–54 The man in the closed ward Mind metamorphosing color and light Blind body closing in fright The petals relax spasmodically And the pretty heart of the flower is burned up After Death (Christina Rossetti), 1958 Lucasta Et Cetera (Richard Lovelace), tenor and chamber ensemble, 1960 To Lucasta (Going beyond the Seas) To Lucasta (Going to the Warres) The Scrutinie (Why should you sweare) Gratiana (Dauncing and Singing) To Althea (Written from Prison) Sonnet (When I by thy faire shape)

Footnotes

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Thomas Avinger

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Thomas Avinger 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 Thomas Avinger 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 Thomas Avinger 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 Thomas Avinger

In research: Thomas Avinger 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 Thomas Avinger 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: Thomas Avinger is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1928 births, 2000 deaths, 20th-century American composers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Thomas Avinger 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.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Thomas Avinger” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Thomas Avinger in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Thomas Avinger in simple terms?

Thomas Avinger (Weslaco, Texas, September 28, 1928 – Houston, Texas, November 18, 2000) was an American composer, conductor and systems analyst for the oil industry. Biography Born in Weslaco, Texas, he taught himself to play the piano at the age of 19.

Why does Thomas Avinger 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 Thomas Avinger?

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 Thomas Avinger.