physics

Tom W. Bonner

Tom W. Bonner 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 Tom W. Bonner rather than just read about it. In short: Tom Wilkerson Bonner (October 19, 1910 – December 6, 1961) was an American experimental physicist who developed important instruments and techniques for neutron physics and nuclear physics (Bonner sphere). Biography Bonner received his B.S. from Southern Methodist University in 1931, and obtained M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Rice Institute (now Rice University) in 1932 and 1934, respectively.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Biography Bonner received his B.S. from Southern Methodist University in 1931, and obtained M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Rice Institute (now Rice University) in 1932 and 1934, respectively. From 1934 to 1936, Bonner was a National Research Fellow at Caltech. In 1936, he returned to Rice Institute as Instructor in Physics. He was appointed Assistant Professor of Physics in 1938, Professor of Physics in 1945, and Chair of the Department of Physics in 1947. In the academic year 1938–1939, he was a Guggenheim Fellow in the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge. Bonner was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) in 1941. From 1941 to 1945, he did radar research at the MIT Radiation Lab. Bonner was an associate editor of the Review of Scientific Instruments in 1946–1949 and in 1952–1955. He was an associate editor of Physical Review from 1951 until his death. In 1959, he was elected a Member of the National Academy of Sciences. Bonner did important work in the development of high-pressure cloud chambers for the study of neutrons produced by accelerators. He invented a neutron-counter-ratio technique for the determination of neutron emission thresholds. He also invented a sphere-moderated neutron spectrometer. In 1937, Bonner married Jara Prasilova, with whom he had three children. Bonner died of acute myocardial infarction on December 6, 1961, in Houston, Texas, at the age of 51. In 1964, the APS established the Tom W. Bonner Prize in Nuclear Physics in his memory.

Patents and publications Bonner, T. W., & Brubaker, W. M. (1936). The disintegration of nitrogen by neutrons. Physical Review. 49(3): 223. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.49.223 Bent, R. D., T. W. Bonner, and R. F. Sippel. (1955). "Pair Spectrometer Measurements of the Radiations from Excited States of Light Nuceli." Physical Review. 98(5): 1237. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.98.1237 Bent, R. D., T. W. Bonner, J. H. McCrary, W. A. Ranken, and R. F. Sippel. (1955). "Gamma Rays from the Deuteron Bombardment of Be9, B10, N14, and F19." Physical Review. 99(3): 710.doi:10.1103/PhysRev.99.710 Taylor, H. L., Lönsjö, O., & Bonner, T. W. (1955). Nonelastic scattering cross sections for fast neutrons. Physical Review. 100(1): 174. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.100.174 Bonner, T. W., and J. C. Slattery. (1959). "Nonelastic Scattering Cross Section for 8-20 Mev Neutrons." Physical Review. 113(4): 1088. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.113.1088 Bramblett, Richard L., Ewing, Ronald I., & Bonner, T. W. (1960). A new type of neutron spectrometer. Nuclear Instruments and Methods, 9(1), 1-12. doi:10.1016/0029-554X(60)90043-4 Bonner, T. W. (1961). Measurements of neutron spectra from fission. Nuclear Physics. 23, 116–121. doi:10.1016/0029-5582(61)90243-7 Caldwell, R. L., & Bonner, T. W. (1961). Measurement of gamma ray energy due to inelastic neutron scattering. (No. GB 862434). Romain, F. S., Bonner, T. W., Bramblett, R. L., & Hanna, J. (1962). Low-Energy Neutrons from the Reaction Be 9 (α, n) C 12. Physical Review. 126(5): 1794. Bonner, T. W., & Mills, J. W. R. (1967). Semiconductor radiation detector for use in nuclear well logging. U.S. Patent No. 3,312,823. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

References

External links Bonner Book Awards, Rice University Physics & Astronomy Department

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Tom W. Bonner

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Tom W. Bonner 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 Tom W. Bonner 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 Tom W. Bonner 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 Tom W. Bonner

In research: Tom W. Bonner 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 Tom W. Bonner 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: Tom W. Bonner is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1910 births, 1961 deaths, 20th-century American inventors, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Tom W. Bonner 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 Tom W. Bonner in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Tom W. Bonner means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
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Frequently asked questions

What is Tom W. Bonner in simple terms?

Tom Wilkerson Bonner (October 19, 1910 – December 6, 1961) was an American experimental physicist who developed important instruments and techniques for neutron physics and nuclear physics (Bonner sphere). Biography Bonner received his B.S. from Southern Methodist University in 1931, and obtained M…

Why does Tom W. Bonner 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 Tom W. Bonner?

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 Tom W. Bonner.