mathematics

J. B. Lockhart

J. B. Lockhart 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 J. B. Lockhart rather than just read about it. In short: James Balfour Lockhart FRSE (1886–27 January 1969) was a Scottish mathematician and teacher. He was generally known as J.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

James Balfour Lockhart FRSE (1886–27 January 1969) was a Scottish mathematician and teacher. He was generally known as J. B. Lockhart or simply JBL. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Life

He was born in Cambuslang in 1886. He was educated locally then studied for the civil service at Skerry's College in Glasgow. In 1912 he decided to start studying mathematics and natural philosophy (physics) at the University of Edinburgh. His studies were interrupted by the First World War, during which he served in Egypt and Gallipoli. He appears to have been a Private in the Royal Army Medical Corps. Returning to university after the war he graduated with first class honours also receiving the Napier Medal for best mathematician in 1920. After graduation he decided to stay in Edinburgh and began teaching at Edinburgh Academy. In 1930 he became house-master of Dundas House, a boarding facility for the academy at 2 Kinnear Road. In 1932 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were Sir Edmund Taylor Whittaker, Herbert Turnbull, Charles Barkla and Sir Charles Galton Darwin. In 1937 he moved to Inverleith Grove, and in 1940 took over as Head of Mathematics. In October 1950 he fell ill and in 1951 was forced to retire due to a heart condition. He died of complications following an operation on a broken leg in Glenfarg Hospital on 27 January 1969. His wife died in July of the same year.

Family He was happily married to Adie, whom he had met as a student at Skerrys College. Holidays were spent at his cottage in Kingskettle in Fife. On his retirement they moved to Balmony, a cottage in Glendevon in southern Perthshire (now part of Clackmannanshire). His hobbies included bee-keeping.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with J. B. Lockhart

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what J. B. Lockhart 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 J. B. Lockhart 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. B. Lockhart 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. B. Lockhart

In research: J. B. Lockhart 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 J. B. Lockhart 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. B. Lockhart is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1886 births, 1969 deaths, Alumni of the University of Edinburgh, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for J. B. Lockhart 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 “J. B. Lockhart” →

Affiliate

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

How to study J. B. Lockhart in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is J. B. Lockhart in simple terms?

James Balfour Lockhart FRSE (1886–27 January 1969) was a Scottish mathematician and teacher. He was generally known as J.

Why does J. B. Lockhart 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 J. B. Lockhart?

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. B. Lockhart.