astronomy

Hans Wilhelmsson Ahlmann

Hans Wilhelmsson Ahlmann 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 Hans Wilhelmsson Ahlmann rather than just read about it. In short: Hans Jakob Konrad Wilhelmsson Ahlmann (14 November 1889 – 10 March 1974) was a Swedish geographer, glaciologist, and diplomat. Born in Karlsborg, Sweden, Ahlmann grew up in Stockholm.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Hans Jakob Konrad Wilhelmsson Ahlmann (14 November 1889 – 10 March 1974) was a Swedish geographer, glaciologist, and diplomat. Born in Karlsborg, Sweden, Ahlmann grew up in Stockholm. He studied with Professor Gerard De Geer at Stockholm University, and gained his doctorate in 1915 on a doctoral thesis on Sweden's Lake Ragundasjön. The same year, he became an associate professor of geography at the University of Stockholm. He was appointed associate professor of geography at Uppsala University in 1920 and professor at the Stockholm University from 1929 until 1950. He was a very active field worker and led an expedition to Nordaustlandet (North East Land) in the Svalbard archipelago in Norway in the spring of 1931. In 1934 he returned to Svalbard with Professor Harald Ulrik Sverdrup, this time to explore the glaciers on Vestspitsbergen. He examined the Vatnajökull (Vatna Glacier) in Iceland in 1936, and led in the winter of 1939–40 the Swedish-Norwegian study of glaciers in Greenland. In 1946, he led investigations of glaciers on Mount Kebnekaise in Sweden. He was one of the initiators of the Norwegian-British-Swedish Antarctic Expedition in 1949–1952, and leader of the expedition's Swedish committee. In 1937 he was awarded the Hans Egede Medal by the Royal Danish Geographical Society. He was elected to the Swedish Academy of Science in 1939 and in the same year awarded the Patron's Medal of the British Royal Geographical Society. During the 1940s, Ahlmann was an international authority on the relationship between climate and glacier size, concluding that the glaciers were retreating. He was awarded the Cullum Geographical Medal of the American Geographical Society in 1950. He was a member of several other scientific academies, among them the Prussian Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. Ahlmann, whose Norwegian wife gave him a good network of contacts in Norway, was a member of the Swedish-Norwegian Association during World War II, and was the 1950–1956 Swedish ambassador in Oslo. From 1956 to 1960, he served as president of the International Geographical Union.

Legacy A number of geographical features are named after him:

Ahlmannfonna Glacier on Nordaustlandet, Svalbard Ahlmann Glacier in Seligmanfjorden in Antarctica Ahlmann Ridge in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica

References Translated from equivalent article on Swedish Wikipedia, which includes material from Norwegian Wikipedia article on Hans Wilhelmsson Ahlmann, 19 February 2015.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Hans Wilhelmsson Ahlmann

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Hans Wilhelmsson Ahlmann 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 Hans Wilhelmsson Ahlmann 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 Hans Wilhelmsson Ahlmann 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 Hans Wilhelmsson Ahlmann

In research: Hans Wilhelmsson Ahlmann 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 Hans Wilhelmsson Ahlmann 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: Hans Wilhelmsson Ahlmann is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1889 births, 1974 deaths, 20th-century Swedish geographers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Hans Wilhelmsson Ahlmann 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 Hans Wilhelmsson Ahlmann in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Hans Wilhelmsson Ahlmann in simple terms?

Hans Jakob Konrad Wilhelmsson Ahlmann (14 November 1889 – 10 March 1974) was a Swedish geographer, glaciologist, and diplomat. Born in Karlsborg, Sweden, Ahlmann grew up in Stockholm.

Why does Hans Wilhelmsson Ahlmann 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 Hans Wilhelmsson Ahlmann?

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 Hans Wilhelmsson Ahlmann.