chemistry

William Andrew Goddard III

William Andrew Goddard III is a chemistry 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 William Andrew Goddard III rather than just read about it. In short: William Andrew Goddard III (born March 29, 1937) is the Charles and Mary Ferkel Professor of Chemistry and Applied Physics, and director of the Materials and Process Simulation Center at the California Institute of Technology. Early life and education William A.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

William Andrew Goddard III (born March 29, 1937) is the Charles and Mary Ferkel Professor of Chemistry and Applied Physics, and director of the Materials and Process Simulation Center at the California Institute of Technology.

Early life and education William A. Goddard III was born in El Centro California and lived his early years in farm towns across California (El Centro, Delano, Indio, Lodi, Oildale, MacFarland, Firebaugh, also Yuma AZ), where his dad made the wooden boxes used to ship agricultural products. He always dreamed of living in Los Angeles. Goddard earned a BS in engineering from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1960 and PhD in engineering science with a minor in physics from Caltech in 1964. He has four children (Bill, Suzy, Cecilia, Lisa) and has been married for 58 years.

Career He joined the chemistry faculty at Caltech in November 1964 where he remains today as a professor and researcher. After his Ph.D. he remained at the California Institute of Technology as Arthur Amos Noyes Research Fellow (1964–66), Professor of Theoretical Chemistry (1967–78) and Professor of Chemistry & Applied Physics (1978-). Goddard has made many contributions to theoretical chemistry, such as the generalized valence bond (GVB) method for ab initio electronic structure calculations and the ReaxFF force field for classical molecular dynamics simulations. He is a member of the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. In August 2007, the American Chemical Society at its biannual national convention celebrated Goddard's 70th birthday with a 5-day symposium titled, "Bold predictions in theoretical chemistry." As of November 2017, Goddard has published 1160 peer-reviewed articles.

References

External links Homepage of William A. Goddard III

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with William Andrew Goddard III

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what William Andrew Goddard III claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, 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 William Andrew Goddard III 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 William Andrew Goddard III 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 William Andrew Goddard III

In research: William Andrew Goddard III appears in chemistry 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 William Andrew Goddard III 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: William Andrew Goddard III is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1937 births, 21st-century American chemists, American chemist stubs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for William Andrew Goddard III 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 William Andrew Goddard III in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is William Andrew Goddard III in simple terms?

Why does William Andrew Goddard III matter?

Because it connects several chemistry 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 William Andrew Goddard III?

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 William Andrew Goddard III.