biology

Jaroslav Flegr

Jaroslav Flegr is a biology 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 Jaroslav Flegr rather than just read about it. In short: Jaroslav Flegr (born 12 March 1958) is a Czech parasitologist, evolutionary biologist, and author of the book Frozen Evolution. He is professor of biology at the Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, and is a member of the editorial board of the journal Neuroendocrinology Letters.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Jaroslav Flegr (born 12 March 1958) is a Czech parasitologist, evolutionary biologist, and author of the book Frozen Evolution. He is professor of biology at the Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, and is a member of the editorial board of the journal Neuroendocrinology Letters. His work on how toxoplasmosis—an infection caused by the protozoan parasite T. gondii—influences personality, sex ratios, and rates of traffic accidents, has received coverage in The Atlantic, Salon, and The Guardian. Flegr maintains that toxoplasmosis might increase the rate of traffic accidents by as much as one million collisions per year. He also believes that T. gondii contributes to suicides and mental disorders such as schizophrenia.

Frozen Evolution Frozen Evolution is a popular science book which aims to explain current developments in evolutionary biology to a wide audience. It also contains information boxes which clarify important topics in science like peer review, scientific journals, citation metrics, philosophy of science, paradigm shifts, and Occam's razor. Flegr's previous research in toxoplasmosis is also mentioned. The book also discusses Flegr's model of frozen plasticity, a hypothesis that describes a possible mechanism for the origin of adaptive traits. This hypothesis proposes that natural selection can only explain adaptation in limited conditions, for example when populations are genetically homogeneous. He describes frozen plasticity as being more general, and maintains that it better explains the origin of adaptive traits in genetically heterogeneous populations of sexual reproducing organisms. His hypothesis of frozen plasticity is an extension of Niles Eldredge and Stephen Jay Gould's theory of punctuated equilibria, which describes the history of most fossil species as being relatively stable for millions of years, later punctuated by swift periods of evolutionary change during speciation.

Bibliography Jaroslav Flegr (2008). Frozen Evolution: Or, that's not the way it is, Mr. Darwin—Farewell to selfish gene (PDF). Prague: Charles University, Faculty of Science. ISBN 978-80-86561-73-8. (Czech version only in print) Jaroslav Flegr (2009). Mechanisms of Evolution. Prague: Academia. (Czech version only in print) Jaroslav Flegr; Jan Havlíček (1999). Changes in personality profile of young women with latent toxoplasmosis (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 October 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2014. Folia Parasitologica 46 (May): 22–28.

References

External links Prof. RNDr. Jaroslav Flegr, CSc. Frozen Revolution – Official book website How Your Cat Is Making You Crazy – The Atlantic

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Jaroslav Flegr

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Jaroslav Flegr claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, 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 Jaroslav Flegr 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 Jaroslav Flegr 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 Jaroslav Flegr

In research: Jaroslav Flegr appears in biology 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 Jaroslav Flegr 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: Jaroslav Flegr is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1958 births, Charles University alumni, Czech biologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Jaroslav Flegr 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 Jaroslav Flegr in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Jaroslav Flegr in simple terms?

Why does Jaroslav Flegr matter?

Because it connects several biology 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 Jaroslav Flegr?

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 Jaroslav Flegr.