physics

Thomas F. Anderson

Thomas F. Anderson 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 Thomas F. Anderson rather than just read about it. In short: Thomas Foxen Anderson (February 7, 1911 – August 11, 1991) was an American biophysical chemist and geneticist who developed crucial techniques for using electron microscopes. Anderson pioneered use of the electron microscope to study viruses.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Thomas Foxen Anderson (February 7, 1911 – August 11, 1991) was an American biophysical chemist and geneticist who developed crucial techniques for using electron microscopes. Anderson pioneered use of the electron microscope to study viruses. His research produced insights of how viruses infect cells, methods of their reproduction and how they alter the cells they infect. Anderson was elected as the president of the Electron Microscope Society of America in 1955, and to the National Academy of Sciences in 1964. Anderson was president of the International Federation of Electron Microscope Societies, president of the Biophysical Society, chairman of the United States National Committee of the International Union for Pure and Applied Biophysics, and chairman of the Genetics Section of the National Academy of Sciences.

Life Anderson was born in 1911 in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, to Anton Oliver Anderson, an electrical engineer, and Mabel Foxen, both the children of Norwegian immigrants. When he was a child, his brother, Norman, developed a chronic mastoiditis. After the death of his mother in 1920, Anton married a new wife, Edna Halvorsen, and began moving his family in 1923, in search of a better climate for the health of his sick son. They lived successively in four different locations: Tampa, Florida (1923-1924); Amherst, Wisconsin, (1924-1925); Rockford, Illinois (1925-1926); and Glendale, California, which is where they finally settled. Anderson enrolled the California Institute of Technology for his higher studies, from which he received his bachelor's degree and doctorate in 1932 and 1936, respectively. He married Wilma Fay Ecton on December 28, 1937. He joined the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania in 1942, where he was named a professor of biology in 1958. He left the university in 1977 when he became director of the Fox Chase Cancer Center's postdoctoral training program for basic research. He retired in 1983. A resident of Fox Chase, Pennsylvania, Anderson died on August 11, 1991, at Jeanes Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, following a series of strokes. He was interred in Oak Grove Cemetery in Amherst, Wisconsin.

Awards Guggenheim Fellowship, 1955 National Academy of Sciences, 1964 Distinguished Award of the Electron Microscope Society of America in 1978 The Pasteur Institute's silver medal in 1957

References

External links National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Thomas F. Anderson

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Thomas F. Anderson 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 Thomas F. Anderson 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 F. Anderson 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 F. Anderson

In research: Thomas F. Anderson 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 Thomas F. Anderson 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 F. Anderson is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1911 births, 1991 deaths, 20th-century American biochemists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Thomas F. Anderson 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 Thomas F. Anderson in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Thomas F. Anderson in simple terms?

Why does Thomas F. Anderson 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 Thomas F. Anderson?

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 F. Anderson.