mathematics

James R. Jackson

James R. Jackson 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 James R. Jackson rather than just read about it. In short: James Richard "Jim" Jackson (May 16, 1924 – March 20, 2011) was an American mathematician, well known for his contribution to queueing theory. Jackson was born in Denver and raised in Beverly Hills.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

James Richard "Jim" Jackson (May 16, 1924 – March 20, 2011) was an American mathematician, well known for his contribution to queueing theory. Jackson was born in Denver and raised in Beverly Hills. He served in the United States Air Force during World War II. After his service, he earned an A.B. in 1946, an M.A. in 1950 and a Ph.D. in 1952, with a thesis titled Abstract Function Spaces and Their Homotopy Theory. All of these degrees were from UCLA where Jackson remained in the School of Management for his career until his retirement in 1985. While at University of California, Los Angeles he developed the Jackson's theorem and some of the first models that could predict the performance of networks with several nodes. Jackson's work was inspired by his experience in the Los Angeles aircraft industry, but the results found applications in the design of computers, manufacturing and the then emerging packet switched networks, such as those undertaken by Leonard Kleinrock in 1961. He spent his retirement in Tehachapi, California.

Publications Jackson, James R. (1957). "Networks of waiting lines". Operations Research. 4 (4): 518–521. doi:10.1287/opre.5.4.518. JSTOR 167249. Jackson, James R. (Oct 1963). "Jobshop-like Queueing Systems". Management Science. 10 (1): 131–142. doi:10.1287/mnsc.1040.0268. JSTOR 2627213.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with James R. Jackson

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what James R. Jackson 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 James R. Jackson 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 R. Jackson 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 R. Jackson

In research: James R. Jackson 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 James R. Jackson 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 R. Jackson is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1924 births, 2011 deaths, 20th-century American mathematicians, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for James R. Jackson 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 R. Jackson in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is James R. Jackson in simple terms?

Why does James R. Jackson 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 James R. Jackson?

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 R. Jackson.