astronomy

Joan S. Whitmore

Joan S. Whitmore 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 Joan S. Whitmore rather than just read about it. In short: Joan Sydney Whitmore (1922–2002) was a South African hydrologist specialising in agriculture and water. She wrote a book about drought management on farmland, and many reports on water and agriculture, during her career as a government scientist.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Joan Sydney Whitmore (1922–2002) was a South African hydrologist specialising in agriculture and water. She wrote a book about drought management on farmland, and many reports on water and agriculture, during her career as a government scientist. She had risen to the rank of Director by 1972, which was an unusual achievement for a woman at that time.

Career Joan Whitmore worked in the South African Agroclimatological Research Unit from 1946 until 1958, when she joined the Department of Water Affairs hydrological section. She was the driving force behind the formation of the Hydrological Research Institute at Roodeplaat Dam, and was its first director from 1972 until her retirement in 1977. She became a consultant in applied climatology and hydrology and lectured at the University of Pretoria. She was involved with the 1999 International Conference on Drought Management in Pretoria. She became an active member of Soroptimist International

Works Whitmore, Joan (1948). Agro-climatology (Technical report). Union of South Africa. Whitmore, Joan (1961). "Agrohydrology". South African Geographical Journal. 43 (1): 68–74. Bibcode:1961SAfGJ..43...68W. doi:10.1080/03736245.1961.10559366. Whitmore, Joan (1961). The Hydrological Cycle past present and future (Technical report). Vol. TR23. Department of Water Affairs. Whitmore, Joan (1967). Effects of catchment management on river flow characteristics (Technical report). Vol. TR39. Department of Water Affairs. Whitmore, Joan (1967). The influence of locality factors on mean annual rainfall (Technical report). Vol. TR40. Department of Water Affairs. Whitmore, Joan (1971). "South Africa's water budget". South African Journal of Science. 67 (3): 166–176. Whitmore, Joan (1975). Land-use planning to improve water yield of catchments (Technical report). Vol. TR54. Department of Water Affairs. Whitmore, Joan (2000). Drought management on farmland. Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Awards Department of Water Affairs Women in Water Award, 2003, posthumously.

Legacy The Joan Whitmore bursary for female students registered for postgraduate study in environmental studies at the University of Pretoria

References

External links The founding of the Hydrological Research Institute: Recollections and Reflections

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Joan S. Whitmore

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Joan S. Whitmore 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 Joan S. Whitmore 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 Joan S. Whitmore 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 Joan S. Whitmore

In research: Joan S. Whitmore 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 Joan S. Whitmore 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: Joan S. Whitmore is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1922 births, 2002 deaths, 20th-century South African scientists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Joan S. Whitmore 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 Joan S. Whitmore in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Joan S. Whitmore in simple terms?

Why does Joan S. Whitmore 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 Joan S. Whitmore?

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 Joan S. Whitmore.