astronomy

J. D. Y. Peel

J. D. Y. Peel 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. D. Y. Peel rather than just read about it. In short: John David Yeadon Peel (11 November 1941 – 2 November 2015) was a British Africanist, sociologist and historian of religion in Africa, particularly Nigeria. He was most notable for his series of major studies of historical patterns of religious belief among the Yoruba people.

Key takeaways

J. D. Y. Peel 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. D. Y. Peel to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of J. D. Y. Peel from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

John David Yeadon Peel (11 November 1941 – 2 November 2015) was a British Africanist, sociologist and historian of religion in Africa, particularly Nigeria. He was most notable for his series of major studies of historical patterns of religious belief among the Yoruba people.

Biography John David Yeadon Peel was born in Dumfries, Scotland on 11 November 1941 and was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham and Balliol College, Oxford. He gained a doctorate in sociology from the London School of Economics (LSE) on Independent Churches in Nigeria. He held a succession of academic posts at universities in the United Kingdom and Nigeria, finishing his career at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). As well as African subjects, he retained an interest in the history of sociology and taught social theory. He authored a biography of the sociologist Herbert Spencer in 1971. Peel was one of the first scholars to examine the theology and organisation of African independent churches. Paul Gifford wrote that "[his] thrust was generally Weberian, insisting that religion could not be reduced to material or class interests". He published three cumulative works on religious change among the Yoruba people in Nigeria between 1968 and 2015, exploring aspects of Christianity, Islam and indigenous belief among the Yoruba from the pre-colonial period onwards. Robin W. G. Horton's "intellectualist theory" of African religion was first set out in a review of Peel's 1968 volume. Peel was a fellow and vice-president (1999-2000) of the British Academy and president of the African Studies Association of the United Kingdom (ASAUK; 1996–98). He was awarded the ASAUK's "Distinguished Africanist" award in 2015. He was editor of Africa: Journal of the International Africa Institute from 1979 to 1986. Toyin Falola edited a festschrift in Peel's honour entitled Christianity and Social Change in Africa in 2005. Peel died in London on 2 November 2015 and was buried on the eastern side of Highgate Cemetery.

Selected publications Aladura: a Religious Movement among the Yoruba (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1968) Ijeshas and Nigerians: the Incorporation of a Yoruba Kingdom 1890s-1970s (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984) Religious Encounter and the Making of the Yoruba (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2000) Christianity, Islam and the Orisa: Comparative Studies of Three Religions in Interaction and Transformation (Oakland: University of California Press, 2015).

References

Bibliography Gifford, Paul; Rathbone, Richard (10 November 2015). "Professor J D Y Peel". School of Oriental and African Studies. Archived from the original on 4 December 2021. Retrieved 31 March 2020. Marchand, Trevor H.J. "JDY Peel, 1941-2015". Royal Anthropological Institute. Retrieved 31 March 2020.

Further reading Batholomew, Richard (2016). "A Bibliography of the Works of J.D.Y. Peel (1941-2015)". Africa. 86 (2): 384–400. doi:10.1017/S0001972016000279. S2CID 147011264.

External links Professor J.D.Y. Peel at British Academy.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with J. D. Y. Peel

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what J. D. Y. Peel 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. D. Y. Peel 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. D. Y. Peel 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. D. Y. Peel

In research: J. D. Y. Peel 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. D. Y. Peel 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. D. Y. Peel is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1941 births, 2015 deaths, 20th-century Scottish historians, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for J. D. Y. Peel 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. D. Y. Peel in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is J. D. Y. Peel in simple terms?

Why does J. D. Y. Peel 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. D. Y. Peel?

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. D. Y. Peel.