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George Henry Kendrick Thwaites

George Henry Kendrick Thwaites is a science 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 George Henry Kendrick Thwaites rather than just read about it. In short: George Henry Kendrick Thwaites (9 July 1812, Bristol – 11 September 1882, Kandy) was an English botanist and entomologist. Career Thwaites was initially an accountant and studied botany during his spare time.

George Henry Kendrick Thwaites — main illustration
George Henry Kendrick Thwaites — illustration

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

George Henry Kendrick Thwaites (9 July 1812, Bristol – 11 September 1882, Kandy) was an English botanist and entomologist.

Career Thwaites was initially an accountant and studied botany during his spare time. He was interested particularly in the lower plants such as the algae and the cryptogams. He became a recognised botanist when he showed that the diatoms are not animals, but algae. In 1846 he was lecturer on botany at the Bristol school of pharmacy and afterwards at the medical school. In March 1849, on the death of George Gardner, Thwaites was appointed superintendent of the botanical gardens at Peradeniya, Ceylon. A position he held for thirty years, until he resigned in 1879. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society on 1 June 1865 following the publication of his Enumeratio Plantarum Zeylaniæ, – (five fasciculi 1859–64). His notes form the most valuable portion of Frederic Moore's Lepidoptera of Ceylon (3 vols 1880–1889). He established the Cinchona nurseries, Hakgala, Ceylon and was in the board of directors of the Alfred Model Farm Experimental Station that later became the Royal Colombo Golf Course.

Legacy The flowering plant genus Kendrickia (from India and Sri Lanka), and the spider genus Thwaitesia are named after him. Also, a species of Sri Lankan lizard, Chalcidoseps thwaitesi, and a butterfly Tapena thwaitesi, are named in his honor. Specimens collected by Thwaites are cared for at multiple institutions, including the Natural History Museum, London, Plantentuin Meise, the National Herbarium of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, and Kew Herbarium.

References

External links

Boulger, George Simonds. "Thwaites, George Henry Kendrick" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 56. pp. 301–302. Royal Society Library and Archive Catalog Enumeratio Plantarum Zeylaniae

Illustrations

George Henry Kendrick Thwaites illustration

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with George Henry Kendrick Thwaites

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what George Henry Kendrick Thwaites claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, 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 George Henry Kendrick Thwaites 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 George Henry Kendrick Thwaites 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 George Henry Kendrick Thwaites

In research
George Henry Kendrick Thwaites appears in science 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 George Henry Kendrick Thwaites 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
George Henry Kendrick Thwaites is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1812 births, 1882 deaths, 19th-century English botanists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life
Look for George Henry Kendrick Thwaites 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 George Henry Kendrick Thwaites in 20 minutes

  1. Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
  2. Close the page and write down what George Henry Kendrick Thwaites means in your own words.
  3. Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
  4. Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
  5. Explain George Henry Kendrick Thwaites out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is George Henry Kendrick Thwaites in simple terms?

George Henry Kendrick Thwaites (9 July 1812, Bristol – 11 September 1882, Kandy) was an English botanist and entomologist. Career Thwaites was initially an accountant and studied botany during his spare time.

Why does George Henry Kendrick Thwaites matter?

Because it connects several science 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 George Henry Kendrick Thwaites?

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 George Henry Kendrick Thwaites.

Tags

  • 1812 births
  • 1882 deaths
  • 19th-century English botanists
  • British fellows of the Royal Society
  • Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George
  • English entomologists
  • Fellows of the Linnean Society of London
  • People from British Ceylon
  • People from Kandy
  • Scientists from Bristol
  • Sri Lankan botanists
  • Sri Lankan environmentalists

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