physics

Thomas Mason (physicist)

Thomas Mason (physicist) 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 Mason (physicist) rather than just read about it. In short: Thomas Mason (born August 9, 1964) is a Canadian-American condensed-matter physicist who serves as the director of Los Alamos National Laboratory. Prior to this appointment, he had been an executive at Battelle Memorial Institute from 2017 to 2018, and the director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory from 2007 to 2017.

Key takeaways

Thomas Mason (physicist) 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 Mason (physicist) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Thomas Mason (physicist) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Thomas Mason (born August 9, 1964) is a Canadian-American condensed-matter physicist who serves as the director of Los Alamos National Laboratory. Prior to this appointment, he had been an executive at Battelle Memorial Institute from 2017 to 2018, and the director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory from 2007 to 2017. Mason moved to Oak Ridge in 1998 at the start of construction of the Spallation Neutron Source which he led from 2001 until project completion in 2006.

Early life Mason was born in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. His father was a geophysicist who worked at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography, and his mother a biochemist, was working at Dalhousie University in Halifax. In 1986, Mason received his Bachelor in Science from Dalhousie University. In 1990, Mason received his doctorate in physics from McMaster University. In 1997, Mason was listed on Maclean's 100 Canadians To Watch list for his work in neutron scattering research. At the time, he was an associate professor in physics at the University of Toronto.

Career Mason started his career in the United States as the science director of the Spallation Neutron Source project in 1998. In 2007, Mason became the director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, succeeding Dr. Jeffrey Wadsworth as the lab's 14th director. He stepped down from the position in 2017 to serve as the senior vice president for laboratory operations at Battelle Memorial Institute. Mason became director at Los Alamos as part of the new Triad National Security LLC management team. In June, 2018, the National Nuclear Security Administration, headed by Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, announced that it had awarded an agency, called Triad National Security LLC, the $25 billion contract for security of the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Triad replaced the former Los Alamos National Security. The announcement of this action occurred on June 8, with notice to proceed on July 5, 2018. The contract includes a five-year base with five one-year options, for a total of 10 years if all options are exercised. With this contract came the appointment of Mason on November 1, 2018. In December 2022, the operating and management contract for Triad National Security LLC was extended from Nov. 1, 2023 through Oct. 30, 2028.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Thomas Mason (physicist)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Thomas Mason (physicist) 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 Mason (physicist) 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 Mason (physicist) 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 Mason (physicist)

In research: Thomas Mason (physicist) 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 Mason (physicist) 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 Mason (physicist) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1964 births, 21st-century American physicists, American condensed matter physicists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Thomas Mason (physicist) 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 Mason (physicist) in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Thomas Mason (physicist) in simple terms?

Why does Thomas Mason (physicist) 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 Mason (physicist)?

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 Mason (physicist).