astronomy

James W. Thatcher

James W. Thatcher 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 W. Thatcher rather than just read about it. In short: James Winthrop Thatcher (March 25, 1936 – December 7, 2019) was an American computer scientist, and the inventor of the first screen reader, a type of assistive technology that enables the use of a computer by people with visual impairments. Thatcher was also important to the development of the accessibility consulting industry.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

James Winthrop Thatcher (March 25, 1936 – December 7, 2019) was an American computer scientist, and the inventor of the first screen reader, a type of assistive technology that enables the use of a computer by people with visual impairments. Thatcher was also important to the development of the accessibility consulting industry. Among many other awards, Thatcher was awarded the first ACM SIG Access Award for Outstanding Contributions to Computing and Accessibility for his contributions to digital accessibility in 2008.

Early life James Winthrop Thatcher was born on March 25, 1936 in Schenectady, New York to Dr. Everett Whiting Thatcher (1904-1992) and Tennie Marie Klotz (1905-1988). His father graduated from the University of Michigan in 1931 with a PhD in Physics, after which he spent 15 years as a Professor of Physics at Union College. During World War II, Everett taught electronic engineering to aspiring naval engineers. After the war, the family moved to San Diego, California, where James attended high school. He graduated from Pomona College in 1958 with a degree in Mathematics.

Career Thatcher earned one of the first PhDs in Computer Science in 1963 from the University of Michigan. His thesis advisor, Dr. Jesse Wright, was blind, and together they joined the Mathematical Sciences Department of IBM Research, to work on practical computing and the development of an audio-based computer access system for the IBM Personal Computer. The result of this work was one of the first screen readers for DOS, originally called PC-SAID, or Personal Computer Synthetic Audio Interface Driver. This was renamed and released in 1984 as IBM Screen Reader, which became the proprietary eponym for that general class of assistive technology. Thatcher went on to lead the development of IBM Screen Reader/2, the first screen reader for a graphical user interface. In 1996, Thatcher joined the IBM Accessibility Center in Austin, Texas, where he helped establish the internal IBM Accessibility Guidelines for software development. These guidelines helped inform the later development of the W3C standard WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines). Thatcher retired from IBM in 2000, to become an independent accessibility consultant. He retired from accessibility consulting in 2016.

Awards Distinguished Service Award (1994), from the National Federation of the Blind for the development of the GUI screen reader Vice President's Hammer Award (1999), for work on the development of software accessibility standards with the U.S. Department of Education ACM SIG Access Award (2008), for Outstanding Contributions to Computing and Accessibility for his contributions to digital accessibility Making A Difference Award (2009), from ACM Special Interest Group for Computers and Society, for his career in accessibility

External links https://jimthatcher.com/ https://highlandscurrent.org/2019/12/12/jim-thatcher-1963-2019/

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with James W. Thatcher

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what James W. Thatcher 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 W. Thatcher 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 W. Thatcher 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 W. Thatcher

In research: James W. Thatcher 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 W. Thatcher 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 W. Thatcher is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1936 births, 2019 deaths, American computer scientists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for James W. Thatcher 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 W. Thatcher in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is James W. Thatcher in simple terms?

Why does James W. Thatcher 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 W. Thatcher?

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 W. Thatcher.