astronomy

J. Anderson Thomson

J. Anderson Thomson 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 J. Anderson Thomson rather than just read about it. In short: J. Anderson Thomson Jr. is an American psychiatrist and writer.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

J. Anderson Thomson Jr. is an American psychiatrist and writer. He is a Trustee of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science and board member of the Center for Inquiry. He is staff psychiatrist for Counseling and Psychological Services at the University of Virginia Student Health Center, as well as the University of Virginia's Institute for Law, Psychiatry and Public Policy. Thomson also has his own private practice, and is a forensic psychiatrist for Region Ten Community Services. Thomson acquired his B.A. from Duke University in 1970, he acquired his M.D. from the University of Virginia in 1974, and he did his adult psychiatry training at the University of Virginia from 1974 to 1977. Thomson has published papers on a variety of issues, including racism, narcissistic personality disorder, forensic psychiatry, depression and PTSD. He is known for his work on evolutionary psychology, as well as for his exploration of the cognitive and evolutionary basis of religious belief, as presented in his latest book entitled Why We Believe in God(s): A Concise Guide to the Science of Faith. Thomson has been a featured speaker at several atheist conferences including American Atheists 2009 and Atheist Alliance International 2009 for which he spoke about his theories on the cognitive origins of religious belief. In an interview with the Austin American-Statesman, Thomson stated, "There is a massive, irreconcilable conflict between science and religion. Religion was humanity's original cosmology, biology and anthropology. It provided explanations for the origin of the world, life and humans. Science now gives us increasingly complete explanations for those big three." He is on the Board of Center for Inquiry.

JFK Conspiracy Theory When he was young, Thomson had read Jim Garrison's book On the Trail of the Assassins and became convinced that there had been a conspiracy. He then read Gerald Posner's book Case Closed, which showed clearly that Oswald was the killer. While he thought the book was brilliant, he felt that the motivation for the killer, Lee Harvey Oswald, should be made more clear. He wrote a long paper detailing Oswald's mental state. His conclusion was that Oswald was bipolar based on his previous diagnosis in his youth, and had suffered from sexual abuse at the hands of his mother.

Writings Federman, Russ; Thomson, J. Anderson (2010). Facing Bipolar: The Young Adult's Guide to Dealing with Bipolar Disorder. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications. ISBN 978-1-57224-642-3. Thomson, J. Anderson; Aukofer, Clare (2011). Why We Believe in God(s): A Concise Guide to the Science of Faith. Charlottesville, VA: Pitchstone Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9844932-1-0.

References

External links Official website

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with J. Anderson Thomson

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what J. Anderson Thomson 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 J. Anderson Thomson 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 J. Anderson Thomson 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 J. Anderson Thomson

In research: J. Anderson Thomson 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 J. Anderson Thomson 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: J. Anderson Thomson is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics American male non-fiction writers, American psychiatrists, American psychology writers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for J. Anderson Thomson 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 J. Anderson Thomson in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is J. Anderson Thomson in simple terms?

J. Anderson Thomson Jr. is an American psychiatrist and writer.

Why does J. Anderson Thomson 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 J. Anderson Thomson?

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 J. Anderson Thomson.