astronomy

James Henry Madsen

James Henry Madsen 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 James Henry Madsen rather than just read about it. In short: James "Jim" Henry Madsen Jr. (July 28, 1932 – November 28, 2009) was an American vertebrate paleontologist and geologist and main leader of excavations at the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry in the 1960s.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

James "Jim" Henry Madsen Jr. (July 28, 1932 – November 28, 2009) was an American vertebrate paleontologist and geologist and main leader of excavations at the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry in the 1960s. Madsen primarily worked to describe skeletons of Allosaurus from the quarry, eventually getting the site to become a National Natural Landmark in 1965 and a national monument after his death.

Biography James Henry Madsen Jr. was born to James Henry Madsen Sr. and Eva Anne Weidner on July 28, 1932, in Murray, Utah and married his wife Susan Sowles in 1956. Madsen Jr. had two children and four grandchildren, with a nephew and two nieces.

Paleontology When Madsen graduated the University of Utah in 1959, few careers were open for geologists until the geologist and paleontologist William Lee Stokes selected Madsen to oversee the excavation of Upper Jurassic dinosaur fossils from the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry in 1960. Madsen led excavations of the site for 5 years, recovering over 14,000 fossils, making it one of the most productive dinosaur quarries in the world. In 1974, Madsen named a new genus and species of theropod dinosaur from Cleveland-Lloyd based on 2 partial ilia, naming it Stokesosaurus clevelandi after his advisor and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Of the 14,000 fossils found at Cleveland-Lloyd, 10,000 were of the large carnivorous theropod Allosaurus with elements from a young juvenile to an old adult represented that were later described by Madsen in 1976. Madsen along with Samuel Paul Welles published an osteology of two Ceratosaurus species they named, C. magnicornis & C. dentisulcatus, from Grand Junction, Colorado and Cleveland-Lloyd respectively in 2000.

Public appearances Madsen was featured on 2 episodes of the History channel television series Jurassic Fight Club in 2008, where he spoke about Allosaurus, Ceratosaurus, and other Upper Jurassic American dinosaurs featured in the show.

Legacy In 2019, Madsen's student Daniel Chure and Mark Loewen described a new species of Allosaurus, which they named Allosaurus jimmadseni after Madsen's work on Allosaurus from Cleveland Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with James Henry Madsen

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what James Henry Madsen 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 James Henry Madsen 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 James Henry Madsen 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 James Henry Madsen

In research: James Henry Madsen 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 James Henry Madsen 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: James Henry Madsen is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1932 births, 2009 deaths, American paleontologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for James Henry Madsen 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 James Henry Madsen in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is James Henry Madsen in simple terms?

Why does James Henry Madsen 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 James Henry Madsen?

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 James Henry Madsen.