astronomy

John D. P. Meldrum

John D. P. Meldrum 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. P. Meldrum rather than just read about it. In short: John David Philip Meldrum (18 July 1940 in Rabat, Morocco; died 9 August 2018 in Edinburgh, Scotland) was a British mathematician. Meldrum was an algebraist and his research was mostly related to group theory.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

John David Philip Meldrum (18 July 1940 in Rabat, Morocco; died 9 August 2018 in Edinburgh, Scotland) was a British mathematician. Meldrum was an algebraist and his research was mostly related to group theory.

Biography Meldrum was born in Rabat, Morocco. In 1964 he was appointed as a supernumerary fellow and college lecturer in mathematics at Emmanuel College. Meldrum received his PhD from the University of Cambridge in 1967 on the topic of "Central Series in Wreath Products". His supervisor was Derek Roy Taunt. In 1969 he became a lecturer for mathematics at the University of Edinburgh and in 1982 he was appointed there as a senior lecturer. He died on 9 August 2018 in Edinburgh after a battle with the Parkinson's disease.

Books

As an author John D. P. Meldrum (1985). Near-rings and Their Links with Groups. Longman Higher Education. ISBN 978-0273087014. John D. P. Meldrum (1995). Wreath Products of Groups and Semigroups. Chapman and Hall/CRC. ISBN 9780582026933.

As a translator Meldrum translated the following book by Nicolas Bourbaki:

Nicolas Bourbaki (1994). Elements of the History of Mathematics. Translated by John D. P. Meldrum. Springer Verlag. ISBN 978-0387193762.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with John D. P. Meldrum

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

In research: John D. P. Meldrum 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. P. Meldrum 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. P. Meldrum is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1940 births, 2018 deaths, Academics of the University of Cambridge, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for John D. P. Meldrum 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. P. Meldrum in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is John D. P. Meldrum in simple terms?

Why does John D. P. Meldrum 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. P. Meldrum?

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. P. Meldrum.