astronomy

John D. Hawks

John D. Hawks 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 D. Hawks rather than just read about it. In short: John Hawks is a professor of anthropology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He also maintains a paleoanthropology blog.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

John Hawks is a professor of anthropology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He also maintains a paleoanthropology blog.

Biography Hawks graduated from Kansas State University in 1994 with degrees in French, English, and Anthropology. He received both his M.A. and Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Michigan where he studied under Milford Wolpoff. His doctoral thesis was titled, "The Evolution of Human Population Size: A Synthesis of Paleontological, Archaeological, and Genetic Data." After working as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Utah, he moved to the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he is currently a member of the Anthropology department, teaching courses including Human Evolution, Biological Anthropology, and Hominid Paleoecology. In 2014, Hawks launched an online course on Coursera under the University of Wisconsin–Madison banner, on "Human Evolution: Past and Future".

Areas of interest Hawks believes that human evolution has actually sped up in recent history in contrast to the common assumption that biological evolution has been made insignificant by cultural evolution. He covers recent developments on this topic at his blog. Hawks has predicted introgression including the Neanderthal admixture hypothesis which gained further evidence by the Neanderthal genome project in May 2010. Hawks believes that contemporary human mitochondrial genetics, including lack of any human mitochondrial DNA haplogroups from Eurasian archaic Homo sapiens may be in part due to natural selection of mtDNA on metabolic or other factors, rather than simple total replacement and genetic drift. Hawks has also discussed the cladistic classification of the Hominidae and has criticized the proliferation of terms like hominin.

Blog Hawks' blog is a widely read and referenced science blog as measured by Technorati's ranking. It deals primarily with paleoanthropology and provides analysis of current research within the discipline, discussing the significance and implications of fossils related to human evolution, genetics and genomics of hominid populations (alive and extinct), archaeological topics, as well as general commentary and review of both scientific and popular literature. Hawks has also written extensively about the experience of blogging about one's field while working in academia.

See also Through the Wormhole#Season 3 (2012) Dawn of Humanity (2015 PBS film) First Peoples (2015 PBS series) Homo naledi

References

External links Official website "John Hawks". University of Wisconsin. Archived from the original on June 9, 2010.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with John D. Hawks

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what John D. Hawks 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 D. Hawks 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 D. Hawks 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 D. Hawks

In research: John D. Hawks 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 D. Hawks 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 D. Hawks is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics American paleoanthropologists, Human evolution theorists, Kansas State University alumni, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for John D. Hawks 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 D. Hawks in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is John D. Hawks in simple terms?

John Hawks is a professor of anthropology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He also maintains a paleoanthropology blog.

Why does John D. Hawks 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 D. Hawks?

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 D. Hawks.