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mathematics

Vincent Reno

Vincent Reno is a mathematics 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 Vincent Reno rather than just read about it. In short: Franklin Vincent Reno (14 May 1911 – 1 May 1990) was a mathematician and civilian employee at the United States Army Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland in the 1930s. Reno was a member of the "Karl group" of Soviet spies which was being handled by Whittaker Chambers until 1938.

Vincent Reno — main illustration
Vincent Reno — illustration

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Franklin Vincent Reno (14 May 1911 – 1 May 1990) was a mathematician and civilian employee at the United States Army Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland in the 1930s. Reno was a member of the "Karl group" of Soviet spies which was being handled by Whittaker Chambers until 1938. Reno confessed in late 1948 to his espionage activities on behalf of the GRU. He is listed as number "118th" in the Gorsky Memo. Reno was sentenced to three years in prison.

Biography Reno was born in Salt Lake City, to a stock raiser and his wife from "Reno, Idaho" (likely Reno Ranch, Idaho). He attended Fort Collins High School from 1924 to 1928 and Colorado State College in Fort Collins from 1928 to 1929. He graduated from University of Colorado Boulder with "top honors" in mathematics in 1932. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in spring 1932 as Victor Reno. While doing graduate studies in astronomy at the University of Virginia in 1935 he joined the Communist Party under the name "Lance Clark." He then took a job at the national office of the Works Progress Administration, after which he resigned to become a Communist Party organizer in Maryland. He began working at Aberdeen Proving Ground in 1937 and continued there until his resignation in 1949. In 1945 he was "given the war department's gold medal for devising a complicated bomb table." He worked on the Norden bombsight and was said to have passed information on this device to Alger Hiss. In 1952 he pleaded guilty to not disclosing his Communist Party when he was being screened for the Aberdeen job. He was sentenced to three years in federal prison.

Reno also collaborated with Edward J. McShane of the University of Virginia and John L. Kelley of the University of California on a book called Exterior Ballistics. The judge gave Reno a month's delay in reporting for his sentence so he could finish his work on the book. Reno died in 1990 at age 79.

See also

References

Sources Vassiliev, Alexander (2003), Alexander Vassiliev's Notes on Anatoly Gorsky's December 1948 Memo on Compromised American Sources and Networks, retrieved 2012-04-21

Illustrations

Vincent Reno: Victor Reno, later known as Franklin Vincent Reno (1911–1990), pictured 1932 in Coloradan yearbook
Victor Reno, later known as Franklin Vincent Reno (1911–1990), pictured 1932 in Coloradan yearbook
Vincent Reno: Title page of Exterior Ballistics McShane Kelley Reno (1954)
Title page of Exterior Ballistics McShane Kelley Reno (1954)

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Vincent Reno

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Vincent Reno claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In mathematics, 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 Vincent Reno 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 Vincent Reno 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 Vincent Reno

In research
Vincent Reno appears in mathematics 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 Vincent Reno 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
Vincent Reno is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1911 births, 1990 deaths, American mathematicians, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life
Look for Vincent Reno 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 Vincent Reno in 20 minutes

  1. Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
  2. Close the page and write down what Vincent Reno means in your own words.
  3. Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
  4. Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
  5. Explain Vincent Reno out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Vincent Reno in simple terms?

Franklin Vincent Reno (14 May 1911 – 1 May 1990) was a mathematician and civilian employee at the United States Army Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland in the 1930s. Reno was a member of the "Karl group" of Soviet spies which was being handled by Whittaker Chambers until 1938.

Why does Vincent Reno matter?

Because it connects several mathematics 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 Vincent Reno?

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 Vincent Reno.

Tags

  • 1911 births
  • 1990 deaths
  • American mathematicians
  • American spies for the Soviet Union
  • University of Colorado Boulder alumni

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