astronomy

John Cloudsley-Thompson

John Cloudsley-Thompson 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 Cloudsley-Thompson rather than just read about it. In short: John Leonard Cloudsley-Thompson DSc CBiol FSB FRES FZS (23 May 1921 – 4 October 2013) was a British naturalist renowned for his work on desert fauna. He was a tank commander during the Second World War.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

John Leonard Cloudsley-Thompson DSc CBiol FSB FRES FZS (23 May 1921 – 4 October 2013) was a British naturalist renowned for his work on desert fauna. He was a tank commander during the Second World War.

Biography

Early life Thompson was born in Murree, in pre-partition India (now Pakistan), where his father worked in public health. He returned to the UK to be educated at Marlborough College and then learn about natural sciences at Pembroke College, Cambridge.

Second World War His time at Cambridge was interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War. He volunteered for the army at a Reception Unit in Reading in September 1939. After initially assisting his father (who by then was the Medical Officer of Health for Lambeth) in setting up casualty clearing stations, he volunteered to join the Royal Tank Regiment. Before his call up in 1941, Thompson had joined the Local Defence Volunteers and then the Home Guard. He was sent to Sandhurst for officer training, and was commissioned into the 4th (Queen's Own) Hussars. After transferring to the 4th County of London Yeomanry, he sailed to join the 7th Armoured Division (Desert Rats) in North Africa and took part in Operation Crusader in November 1941. Involved in much of the fighting across the Libyan desert, Thompson, now a Tank Commander, was severely wounded in May 1942, during the Allied defence of the Knightsbridge Box. His Crusader A15 Mark VI had been hit and disabled and Thompson was fortunate to escape his tank with a leg wound. The rest of his crew were all killed or taken prisoner. He was evacuated to a field hospital in Tobruk, and from there to Cairo by train, where doctors operated to save his leg. Cloudsley-Thompson was then shipped to Britain to recuperate and became a tank gunnery instructor at Sandhurst. He also married Anne Cloudsley in 1944, and updated their surname to Cloudsley-Thompson. He rejoined his tank regiment in time for the Normandy Landings. He took part in the Battle of Villers-Bocage on 13 June 1944; his Cromwell tank was destroyed and he and his crew were lucky to scramble out alive. During July 1944, Thompson took part in Operation Goodwood, the attempt to storm the Bourguébus Ridge.

Naturalist After the war, Cloudsley-Thompson returned to Cambridge to complete his studies, gaining his MA and PhD. He then became a lecturer in zoology at King's College London. However, he still harboured a close interest in the desert he had fought across. In 1960, he became professor of zoology at the University of Khartoum, and keeper of the Sudan Natural History Museum. Following a short spell in 1969 as visiting professor at the University of Albuquerque in the deserts of New Mexico, he and Anne returned to London in 1972. He was appointed professor of zoology at Birkbeck College, University of London, and remained with the university until he retired in 1986, when he was made emeritus professor. Cloudsley-Thompson was also a former chairman of the British Naturalists' Association between 1974 and 1983, and the recipient of the Association's highest honour for outstanding services to the understanding of natural history, the Peter Scott Memorial Award in 1993. By the time of his death in October 2013, he had written over 50 books on desert fauna and the adaptations used by its wildlife such as spiders and scorpions. His wife Anne predeceased him in 2012.

Works Books written or co-authored by Cloudsley-Thompson include:

Spiders, Scorpions, Centipedes and Mites: The Ecology and Natural History of Woodlice, 'Myriapods' and Arachnids (1958) Land Invertebrates: A Guide to British Worms, Molluscs, and Arthropods (Excluding Insects) (1961) The water and temperature relations of woodlice (1977) Nightwatch: The Natural World from Dusk to Dawn (1984) Evolution and Adaptation of Terrestrial Arthropods (1988) Ecophysiology of Desert Arthropods and Reptiles (1991) Biotic Interactions in Arid Lands (1996) Ecology (1999) The Diversity of Amphibians and Reptiles: An Introduction (1999) Ecology and Behaviour of Mesozoic Reptiles (2005)

References

Bibliography Joslen, Lt-Col H.F. (1990) [1st. Pub. HMSO:1960]. Orders of Battle, Second World War, 1939–1945. London: London Stamp Exchange. ISBN 0-948130-03-2.

External links Imperial War Museum Interview

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with John Cloudsley-Thompson

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what John Cloudsley-Thompson 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 Cloudsley-Thompson 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 Cloudsley-Thompson 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 Cloudsley-Thompson

In research: John Cloudsley-Thompson 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 Cloudsley-Thompson 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 Cloudsley-Thompson is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1921 births, 2013 deaths, 3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters) officers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for John Cloudsley-Thompson 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 Cloudsley-Thompson in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is John Cloudsley-Thompson in simple terms?

Why does John Cloudsley-Thompson 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 Cloudsley-Thompson?

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 Cloudsley-Thompson.