astronomy

John Adelbert Parkhurst

John Adelbert Parkhurst 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 John Adelbert Parkhurst rather than just read about it. In short: John Adelbert Parkhurst (September 24, 1861 – March 1, 1925) was an American astronomer. He was born in Dixon, Illinois, and attended the public schools in Marengo, IL and Wheaton College.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

John Adelbert Parkhurst (September 24, 1861 – March 1, 1925) was an American astronomer. He was born in Dixon, Illinois, and attended the public schools in Marengo, IL and Wheaton College. He then attended Rose Polytechnic Institute in Terre Haute, Indiana, earning a B.Sc. in 1886. For the following two years he taught mathematics at the same school. He was the son of Sanford Britton Parkhurst and Jane Clarissa Hubbard. Source: George Parkhurst Increasings by Peter G. Parkhurst, p. 402. In 1888 he married Anna Greenleaf. He returned to Marengo, Illinois where he kept a small, private observatory that he used primarily for variable star observation. Yerkes Observatory was built nearby in 1897, and in 1898 he joined the staff as a volunteer research assistant. By 1900 he was appointed as an assistant. He remained on the staff for 25 years, later becoming an associate professor at the University of Chicago, specializing in practical astronomy. His most important work was in the specialty of photometry. He also participated in three eclipse expeditions, but only enjoyed clear seeing conditions on the last (1925). During his career he published about 100 papers on astronomy, both before and during his time at Yerkes. In 1905 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. On February 27, 1925, he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died a few days later at his home in Williams Bay. He was survived by his wife, Anna. The crater Parkhurst on the Moon is named after him. Parkhurst Place in Williams Bay is also named for him. This street leads into the east side of Yerkes Observatory and wraps around into the South Lawn. Parkhurst Place is where many noteworthy astronomers and astronomy educators of the 20th Century lived including Subramanyan Chandrasekhar, William Wilson Morgan, Otto Struve, Franklin E. Roach, and George Ellery Hale.

References Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Vol. 10. New York 1975, p. 320-321. "Obituary Notices: Fellows:- Parkhurst, John A", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 86, 1926, p. 185-186. [1]

Illustrations

John Adelbert Parkhurst: John Adelbert Parkhurst — John Adelbert Parkhurst

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with John Adelbert Parkhurst

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what John Adelbert Parkhurst 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 John Adelbert Parkhurst 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 John Adelbert Parkhurst 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 John Adelbert Parkhurst

In research: John Adelbert Parkhurst 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 John Adelbert Parkhurst 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: John Adelbert Parkhurst is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1861 births, 1925 deaths, American astronomers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for John Adelbert Parkhurst 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 John Adelbert Parkhurst in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is John Adelbert Parkhurst in simple terms?

John Adelbert Parkhurst (September 24, 1861 – March 1, 1925) was an American astronomer. He was born in Dixon, Illinois, and attended the public schools in Marengo, IL and Wheaton College.

Why does John Adelbert Parkhurst 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 John Adelbert Parkhurst?

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 John Adelbert Parkhurst.