astronomy

Willard Cochrane

Willard Cochrane 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 Willard Cochrane rather than just read about it. In short: Willard Wesley Cochrane (May 15, 1914 – March 5, 2012) was an agricultural economist and a leading architect of farm policy in the United States. He was born in 1914 in California and went on to earn degrees at the University of California, Berkeley, Montana State University and Harvard University, where he received his Ph.D.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Willard Wesley Cochrane (May 15, 1914 – March 5, 2012) was an agricultural economist and a leading architect of farm policy in the United States. He was born in 1914 in California and went on to earn degrees at the University of California, Berkeley, Montana State University and Harvard University, where he received his Ph.D. In the late 1930s and 1940s, he served in government and United Nations agricultural agencies. He served in the Navy during World War II. He became Professor of agricultural economics at the University of Minnesota in 1951. During the 1960s he was U.S. Department of Agriculture's head agricultural economist under U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Orville Freeman. During this time he developed proposals for supply management policy and a national food stamp program. He was an advocate of sustainable family farming and coined the concept of the technology treadmill. He was opposed to government commodity program payments and an early advocate of set aside programs to benefit conservation.

Bibliography Cochrane wrote a dozen books on farm policy. His last book, about sustainable family farming, was published in 2003.

"The economics of consumption: Economics of decision making in the household" (1956), with Carolyn Shaw Bell "Farm Prices: Myth and Reality" (1958) "The City Man's Guide to the Farm Problem" (1965) "The World Food Problem A Guardedly Optimistic View" (1969) "Economics of American Agriculture" (1974), with Walter W. Wilcox & Robert W. Herdt "Agricultural Development Planning: Economic Concepts, Administrative Procedures and Political Processes" (1974) "American Farm Policy, 1948-73" (1976), with Mary E. Ryan "Agricultural Economics At The University Of Minnesota 1886- 1979" (1983) "The Long, Slow Slide Into Economic Mediocrity" (1991) "Reforming Farm Policy: Toward a National Agenda" (1992), with C. Ford Runge "The Development of American Agriculture: A Historical Analysis" (1993) "The Curse of American Agricultural Abundance: A Sustainable Solution" (2003)

References

Further reading "Willard Cochrane and the American Family Farm", Richard Levins, 2000

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Willard Cochrane

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Willard Cochrane 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 Willard Cochrane 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 Willard Cochrane 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 Willard Cochrane

In research: Willard Cochrane 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 Willard Cochrane 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: Willard Cochrane is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1914 births, 2012 deaths, Academics from Fresno, California, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Willard Cochrane 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.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Willard Cochrane” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Willard Cochrane in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Willard Cochrane in simple terms?

Why does Willard Cochrane 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 Willard Cochrane?

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 Willard Cochrane.