physics

William O. Baker

William O. Baker 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 O. Baker rather than just read about it. In short: William Oliver Baker (July 15, 1915 – October 31, 2005) was president of Bell Labs from 1973 to 1979 and advisor on scientific matters to five United States presidents. Biography He was born on July 15, 1915, in Chestertown, Maryland.

Key takeaways

William O. Baker 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 O. Baker to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of William O. Baker from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

William Oliver Baker (July 15, 1915 – October 31, 2005) was president of Bell Labs from 1973 to 1979 and advisor on scientific matters to five United States presidents.

Biography He was born on July 15, 1915, in Chestertown, Maryland. He received his degree from Washington College and went on to get a doctorate from Princeton University, studying under Charles Phelps Smyth. He later did research for Bell Labs that helped lead to synthetic rubber. He held 11 patents in all. He headed Bell Labs from 1973 to 1979. Prior to being named president, he had served as Bell Labs Vice President for Research since 1955. Baker had lived in the New Vernon section of Harding Township and was a longtime resident of Morristown, New Jersey. In 1979, he was a resident of Morristown, NJ upon his tenure ending as President of Bell Labs. He died of heart failure on October 31, 2005, in Chatham, New Jersey.

Awards and honors Member of the United States National Academy of Sciences (1961) Perkin Medal (1963) Member of the American Philosophical Society (1963) Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1965) Priestley Medal (1966) IRI Medal from the Industrial Research Institute (1970) American Institute of Chemists Gold Medal (1975) Charles Lathrop Parsons Award, American Chemical Society (1976) Miles Conrad Award, NFAIS (1977) Willard Gibbs Award (1978) Vannevar Bush Award (1981) SASA Medal of Achievement (1984) Thereafter known as the William Oliver Baker Award National Medal of Science (1988) Benjamin Franklin Medal for Distinguished Achievement in the Sciences of the American Philosophical Society (2000). AAAS Philip Hauge Abelson Prize (1995) Marconi Society (2003)

References

External links Oral History interview transcript for William O. Baker on 7 May 1996, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library and Archives William O. Baker Papers at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University William O. Baker tribute site

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with William O. Baker

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what William O. Baker 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 O. Baker 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 O. Baker 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 O. Baker

In research: William O. Baker 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 O. Baker 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 O. Baker is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1915 births, 2005 deaths, 20th-century American chemists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for William O. Baker 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 O. Baker in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is William O. Baker in simple terms?

William Oliver Baker (July 15, 1915 – October 31, 2005) was president of Bell Labs from 1973 to 1979 and advisor on scientific matters to five United States presidents. Biography He was born on July 15, 1915, in Chestertown, Maryland.

Why does William O. Baker 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 O. Baker?

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 O. Baker.