astronomy

James Hough

James Hough 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 Hough rather than just read about it. In short: Sir James Hough (born 6 August 1945) is a British physicist and an international leader in the search for gravitational waves. Career and research Hough has held the following professional positions: Professor of experimental physics at the University of Glasgow.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Sir James Hough (born 6 August 1945) is a British physicist and an international leader in the search for gravitational waves.

Career and research Hough has held the following professional positions:

Professor of experimental physics at the University of Glasgow. Director of the Institute of Gravitational Research at the University of Glasgow. Member of the LISA International Science Team. Delegate to the LIGO Council. Chair of the Education, Training and Careers Committee and the Fellowships Panel of the Science and Technology Facilities Council.

Awards and honours 2003 Hough was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. 2004 Hough was awarded the Duddell Medal and Prize, a senior award from the Institute of Physics. The award is made annually to "an individual or team for outstanding contributions to the advancement of knowledge through the application of physics, including invention or design of scientific instruments or by the discovery of materials used in their construction." 2008 Hough was awarded the Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prize of the Royal Society of Edinburgh for his work on gravitational waves 2013 Hough was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to science. 2015 Hough was awarded the Institute of Physics Phillips Award. 2018 Awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society for Astronomy 2019 Hough was knighted (Knight Bachelor) by The Duke of Cambridge during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace on 31 January 2019, in recognition of Hough's international leadership in the search for gravitational waves ~ 'ripples' in the fabric of space-time. 2020 Hough was awarded the Royal Society's Bakerian Medal in 2020 2021 Became Honorary Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers.

Appearances in media Hough received widespread media coverage in 2004 when he placed a bet, against the odds, of detecting gravitational waves before 2010. The original odds were set at 500/1, but following huge interest, the betting company were forced to cut their odds to 6/1. In April 2007, during the run-up to the Scottish Parliamentary elections, Hough signed an open letter, along with sixty-one other top Scottish scientists, backing the retention of the Union between Scotland and England. They were concerned that Scottish independence would have "detrimental consequences for the health of the Scottish science base and for the long term viability of the Scottish economy and society."

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with James Hough

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what James Hough 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 Hough 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 Hough 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 Hough

In research: James Hough 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 Hough 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 Hough is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1945 births, Academics of the University of Glasgow, Alumni of the University of Glasgow, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for James Hough 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 Hough in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is James Hough in simple terms?

Sir James Hough (born 6 August 1945) is a British physicist and an international leader in the search for gravitational waves. Career and research Hough has held the following professional positions: Professor of experimental physics at the University of Glasgow.

Why does James Hough 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 Hough?

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 Hough.