science

Hewligan's Haircut

Hewligan's Haircut 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 Hewligan's Haircut rather than just read about it. In short: Hewligan’s Haircut is a comic series created by Peter Milligan and Jamie Hewlett that appeared in the British magazine 2000 AD in 1990. The title character’s name is a blend of Hewlett and Milligan, and a play on "hooligan".

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Hewligan’s Haircut is a comic series created by Peter Milligan and Jamie Hewlett that appeared in the British magazine 2000 AD in 1990. The title character’s name is a blend of Hewlett and Milligan, and a play on "hooligan". The series is a surreal comedy. Hewligan, an inmate of an insane asylum, gives himself a haircut with a pair of plastic scissors only for an inexplicable hole to appear in his huge pompadour, causing an apocalyptic bending of reality. The plot takes the form of a madcap interdimensional quest for Hewligan and his reality-warping companion Scarlet O’Gasmeter to set things straight. Writing about Hewligan’s Haircut for Time, Douglas Wolk remarks that as with “Milligan’s other comics, the idea of madness is a license to pour anything and everything onto the page”. Wolk cites MAD comics as a major antecedent of Hewlett’s artwork, which incorporates a self-conscious mishmash of techniques and reference points, including fanzines, collage, Dada, cubism and pop art.

Collected editions Classic 2000 AD #11, 1996 Hewligan's Haircut: A Story in Eight Partings (2000 AD Books, 1991, ISBN 1853862460) Hewligan's Haircut (Rebellion, 2003, ISBN 1904265065)

External links The 2000 AD ABC #46: Hewligan's Haircut at YouTube

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Hewligan's Haircut

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Hewligan's Haircut 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 Hewligan's Haircut 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 Hewligan's Haircut 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 Hewligan's Haircut

In research: Hewligan's Haircut 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 Hewligan's Haircut 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: Hewligan's Haircut is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2000 AD characters, 2000 AD comic strips, Comics by Peter Milligan, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Hewligan's Haircut 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.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Hewligan's Haircut” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Hewligan's Haircut in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Hewligan's Haircut in simple terms?

Why does Hewligan's Haircut 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 Hewligan's Haircut?

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 Hewligan's Haircut.