astronomy

Tobias de Boer

Tobias de Boer 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 Tobias de Boer rather than just read about it. In short: Pieter Cornelis Tobias de Boer (21 May 1930 – 2 May 2016) was a Dutch scientist. He was a professor at the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering of Cornell University.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Pieter Cornelis Tobias de Boer (21 May 1930 – 2 May 2016) was a Dutch scientist. He was a professor at the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering of Cornell University. His research interest were in the field of thermodynamics and fluid mechanics.

Career De Boer was born on 21 May 1930 in Leiden, the Netherlands. He studied mechanical engineering at Delft University of Technology, where he obtained his bachelor's degree and in 1954 his Master's. He subsequently served in the Dutch Armed Forces for two years. De Boer married in 1956 and a short time later moved to the United States where they settled in Maryland. He continued his studies and obtained his doctorate at the University of Maryland in 1962 under Jan Burgers. He subsequently was an assistant professor at the university until 1964. The de Boer family then moved to Ithaca, New York and he was employed by Cornell University as an assistant professor at the Graduate School of Aeronautical Engineering. In 1968 he became associate professor. In 1972 the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering was founded and two years later de Boer became a full professor there. He retired in 2000. At the university, de Boer did research on pulse tube cryocoolers, the physics of shock waves, and Stirling engines, among other topics. In 1988 de Boer was elected a corresponding member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Personal life De Boer married Joan Lieshout in 1956, the couple had three children. Joan recorded the Dutch text on the Voyager Golden Record. De Boer was a sportsman and especially fond of cycling. When he was 48 he cycled 448 miles (721 km) in 24 hours, thereby setting a national record for his age category. He died on 2 May 2016 in the retirement community of Kendal at Ithaca, age 85.

References

External links Interview with Tob de Boer by Francis Moon

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Tobias de Boer

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Tobias de Boer 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 Tobias de Boer 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 Tobias de Boer 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 Tobias de Boer

In research: Tobias de Boer 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 Tobias de Boer 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: Tobias de Boer is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1930 births, 2016 deaths, 20th-century Dutch engineers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Tobias de Boer 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 Tobias de Boer in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Tobias de Boer in simple terms?

Pieter Cornelis Tobias de Boer (21 May 1930 – 2 May 2016) was a Dutch scientist. He was a professor at the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering of Cornell University.

Why does Tobias de Boer 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 Tobias de Boer?

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 Tobias de Boer.