physics

William F. Brinkman

William F. Brinkman 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 William F. Brinkman rather than just read about it. In short: William Frank Brinkman is an American physicist who served as president of the American Physical Society (2002) and was the head of the Office of Science at the United States Department of Energy (2009–2013). He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1984, and won the George E.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

William Frank Brinkman is an American physicist who served as president of the American Physical Society (2002) and was the head of the Office of Science at the United States Department of Energy (2009–2013). He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1984, and won the George E. Pake Prize in 1994. He was elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1992, and became a member of the American Philosophical Society in 2002. Brinkman was born on July 20, 1938, in Washington, Missouri. He received his bachelor's degree (1960) and PhD (1965) in physics from the University of Missouri. Brinkman joined Bell Labs in 1966, working in the physics research laboratory. From 1984 to 1987, he served as vice president of research at Sandia National Laboratories. In 1987 he became executive director of the physics research division at Bell Labs. Brinkman joined Princeton University in 2001, where he continued his condensed matter physics research. In 2009, he was appointed as director of the Office of Science in the U.S. Department of Energy, where he served until 2013.

References

External links Oral history interview transcript for William F. Brinkman on 7 March 2006, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives - Session I Oral history interview transcript for William F. Brinkman on 26 April 2006, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives - Session II

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with William F. Brinkman

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what William F. Brinkman 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 William F. Brinkman 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 F. Brinkman 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 F. Brinkman

In research: William F. Brinkman 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 William F. Brinkman 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 F. Brinkman is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1938 births, 20th-century American physicists, American physicist stubs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for William F. Brinkman 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 F. Brinkman in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is William F. Brinkman in simple terms?

Why does William F. Brinkman 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 William F. Brinkman?

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 F. Brinkman.