mathematics

Hugh Mellor

Hugh Mellor is a mathematics 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 Hugh Mellor rather than just read about it. In short: David Hugh Mellor (; 10 July 1938 – 21 June 2020) was a British philosopher. He was a Professor of Philosophy and Pro-Vice-Chancellor, later Professor Emeritus, of the University of Cambridge.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

David Hugh Mellor (; 10 July 1938 – 21 June 2020) was a British philosopher. He was a Professor of Philosophy and Pro-Vice-Chancellor, later Professor Emeritus, of the University of Cambridge.

Biography Mellor was born in London on 10 July 1938, and educated at Manchester Grammar School. He studied chemical engineering at Pembroke College, Cambridge (BA 1960). His first formal study of philosophy was at the University of Minnesota where he took a minor in Philosophy of Science under Herbert Feigl. From Minnesota he obtained an MSc degree in 1962. He obtained his PhD degree in philosophy, with a thesis written under the supervision of Mary Hesse, at Pembroke in 1968. He was awarded an Sc.D. degree from Cambridge in 1990. His primary work was in metaphysics, although his philosophical interests included philosophy of science, philosophy of mind, philosophy of time, probability and causation, laws of nature and properties, and decision theory. Mellor was Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Darwin College from 1971 to 2005. Mellor was in the news in 1992, when he argued against Cambridge awarding an honorary degree to Jacques Derrida, a French philosopher known for his theory of "deconstruction". A formal ballot decided to award the degree, but Mellor said it was undeserved, explaining: "He is a mediocre, unoriginal philosopher – he is not even interestingly bad." He also commented that it had been "a bad year for bullshit in Cambridge." Mellor was president of the Aristotelian Society from 1992 to 1993, a member of the Humanist Philosophers' Group of the British Humanist Association and Honorary Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. He was a Fellow of the British Academy between 1983 and 2008. In retirement, Mellor held the title of emeritus professor. A Festschrift, Real Metaphysics: Essays in Honour of D. H. Mellor, was published in 2003. Mellor was also an amateur theatre actor. He died on 21 June 2020.

Publications Authored

The Matter of Chance (1971) – online. Real Time (1981). Cambridge University Press. Matters of Metaphysics (1991). Cambridge University Press. The Facts of Causation (1995). Routledge. Real Time II (1998). Routledge. Probability: A Philosophical Introduction (2005). Routledge. Mind, Meaning, and Reality (2012). Oxford University Press Edited

Prospects for Pragmatism: Essays in Memory of F P Ramsey (1980) Science, Belief and Behaviour Essays in Honour of R B Braithwaite.(1980) F. P. Ramsey: Philosophical Papers. Cambridge University Press. (1990) (with Hallvard Lillehammer) Ramsey's Legacy (2005) *For more complete publication details see the tribute page by Tim Crane.

References

Further reading Stewart Candlish "David Hugh Mellor FAHA 1938 - 2020" Australian Academy of the Humanities Annual Report 2019–20 (2020) Real Metaphysics: Essays in Honour of D. H. Mellor (2003). Hallvard Lillehammer and Gonzalo Rodriguez-Pereyra ed. (including Mellor's Replies).

External links Tribute page by Tim Crane, collecting philosophical work, downloadable papers, memoirs and obituaries, and photos. Interviews with Philosophy Bites: Hugh Mellor on Time (2008) Hugh Mellor on Frank Ramsey on Truth (2011) Hugh Mellor on Probability (2014) "Frank Ramsey: a biography" – Better Than the Stars 1978 BBC Radio programme made by Mellor about Frank Ramsey and the text of Mellor's 1995 article derived from the same. Archived versions of Mellor's homepage and faculty page

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Hugh Mellor

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Hugh Mellor claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In mathematics, 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 Hugh Mellor 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 Hugh Mellor 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 Hugh Mellor

In research: Hugh Mellor appears in mathematics 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 Hugh Mellor 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: Hugh Mellor is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1938 births, 2020 deaths, 20th-century British philosophers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Hugh Mellor 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 Hugh Mellor in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Hugh Mellor in simple terms?

David Hugh Mellor (; 10 July 1938 – 21 June 2020) was a British philosopher. He was a Professor of Philosophy and Pro-Vice-Chancellor, later Professor Emeritus, of the University of Cambridge.

Why does Hugh Mellor matter?

Because it connects several mathematics 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 Hugh Mellor?

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 Hugh Mellor.