astronomy

G.K. Noble

G.K. Noble 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 G.K. Noble rather than just read about it. In short: Gladwyn Kingsley Noble (September 20, 1894 – December 9, 1940) was an American zoologist who served as the head curator for the department of herpetology and the department of experimental biology at the American Museum of Natural History. Noble received bachelor's and master's degrees from Harvard University in 1917 and 1918, respectively, and a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1922.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Gladwyn Kingsley Noble (September 20, 1894 – December 9, 1940) was an American zoologist who served as the head curator for the department of herpetology and the department of experimental biology at the American Museum of Natural History. Noble received bachelor's and master's degrees from Harvard University in 1917 and 1918, respectively, and a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1922. He joined the herpetology department in 1922 as a research assistant and assistant curator in 1917, and became the chairman of the department in 1924. He later formed the Department of Experimental Biology in 1928, and served as the chairman of both departments until his death on December 9, 1940, from a streptococcal throat infection.

Background Noble's father was Gilbert Clifford Noble, one of the founders of what would become Barnes & Noble bookstores and publishing house. Gilbert Clifford Noble joined the Arthur Hinds & Company firm in 1886 after graduating from Harvard College. In 1894, he was made a partner and the name of the company was changed to Hinds & Noble. In 1917, Gilbert bought out Hinds and entered into a partnership with William Barnes and the company was changed to Barnes & Noble. In 1930, Gilbert sold his share of the company to John Wilcox Barnes. G.K. Noble was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1933. He is the taxon author of 20 new species of reptiles. A species of lizard, Anolis noblei, is named in his honor. Also, a subspecies of lizard, Sphaerodactylus darlingtoni noblei, is named in his honor.

Family Noble was married to writer Ruth Crosby. The couple had two sons, G. Kingsley Noble Jr. (1924-1994) and Alan Noble (1926-1992). Ruth Crosby Noble died on March 15, 1988, aged 91, at the Allendale (New Jersey) Nursing Home. She authored The Nature of the Beast, a book on animal behavior based on research by her husband. G. Kingsley Noble Jr., was an anthropologist; a native of Portola Valley, California, he died on July 20, 1994, aged 70, of a heart attack, leaving two sons.

Publications G.K. Noble and G.C. Klingel (August 11, 1932), American Museum Novitates number 549: "The Reptiles of Great Inagua Island, British West Indies".

Publications by his son G. Kingsley Noble, Jr. (1974), Ethnology: The Bolivian Aymara. HANS C. BUECHLER and JUDITH-MARIA BUECHLER. American Anthropologist, 76: 148–149. doi: 10.1525/aa.1974.76.1.02a00760 G. Kingsley Noble, Jr. (1971), Man's Many Voices: Language in Its Cultural Context. ROBBINS BURLING. American Anthropologist, 73: 1378–1379. doi: 10.1525/aa.1971.73.6.02a00710 G. Kingsley Noble, Jr. Proto-Arawakan and its descendants. Bloomington: Indiana University, 1965. Series: International journal of American linguistics, v. 31, no. 3, pt. 2. Indiana University Research Center in Anthropology, Folklore, and Linguistics, 38.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with G.K. Noble

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what G.K. Noble 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 G.K. Noble 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 G.K. Noble 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 G.K. Noble

In research: G.K. Noble 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 G.K. Noble 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: G.K. Noble is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1894 births, 1940 deaths, 20th-century American botanists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for G.K. Noble 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 G.K. Noble in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is G.K. Noble in simple terms?

Why does G.K. Noble 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 G.K. Noble?

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 G.K. Noble.