astronomy

Jane Reece

Jane Reece 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 Jane Reece rather than just read about it. In short: Jane B. Reece is an American scientist and textbook author.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Jane B. Reece is an American scientist and textbook author. Along with American biologist Neil Campbell, she wrote the widely used Campbell/Reece Biology textbooks. Following Campbell's death in 2004, she collaborated with American biologist Lisa Urry to update subsequent editions. The textbook is widely acclaimed and is used in 90 percent of AP Biology classes and 60 percent of introductory college biology courses. The textbook has been used by over 14 million students and has been translated into over 20 languages.

Early life and education Reece received an AB in Biology from Harvard University, an MS in microbiology from Rutgers University, and a PhD in bacteriology from the University of California, Berkeley. Her doctoral thesis was entitled The RecE pathway of genetic combination in Escherichia Coli (1981). Having completed her PhD, she stayed at UC Berkeley for a while as a postdoctoral researcher, before accepting tenure at Stanford University as a researcher. Her research mainly focused on genetic recombination in bacteria.

Career Reece has taught at various colleges, including Middlesex County College (New Jersey) and Queensborough Community College (New York City). She is the author or co-author of several textbooks at Benjamin Cummings, at which place she has served as an editor since she joined in 1978. Notable among her works is The World of the Cell, third edition, which she co-authored with Wayne Becker and M.F. Poesie. In 2017, she was awarded an honorary doctorate from Uppsala University, Sweden.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Jane Reece

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Jane Reece 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 Jane Reece 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 Jane Reece 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 Jane Reece

In research: Jane Reece 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 Jane Reece 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: Jane Reece is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics American geneticists, American science teachers, American science writers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Jane Reece 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 Jane Reece in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Jane Reece in simple terms?

Jane B. Reece is an American scientist and textbook author.

Why does Jane Reece 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 Jane Reece?

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 Jane Reece.