biology

John Donnell Smith

John Donnell Smith is a biology 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 Donnell Smith rather than just read about it. In short: Captain John Donnell Smith (June 5, 1829 – December 2, 1928) of Baltimore, Maryland was an American biologist and taxonomist. He was also an officer in the Confederate army.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Captain John Donnell Smith (June 5, 1829 – December 2, 1928) of Baltimore, Maryland was an American biologist and taxonomist. He was also an officer in the Confederate army. He was a graduate of Yale in 1847, where he was a member of Skull and Bones. He was a botanical researcher; a trustee of Peabody Institute in Baltimore (1888–1915). He issued an exsiccata-like series distributing numbered specimen sets often collected by Hans von Türckheim under the title Ex plantis Guatemalensibus, quas edidit John Donnell Smith. He was a Captain in the Confederate Army, and Commander of Battery A, 10th Battalion (Huger's Battalion) of Virginia Artillery (known as the Bedford Light Artillery), serving in every campaign and battle of the Army of Northern Virginia. He was severely wounded at Gettysburg, and was present at the surrender at Appomattox in April 1865. In 1890, botanists J.M.Coult. & Rose named a genus of plants from central America, after him. The name of Donnellsmithia was published in Bot. Gaz. Vol.15 on page 15 in 1890. In January 1906, he presented his herbarium consisting of more than 100,000 mounted specimens and his botanical library of over 1600 bound volumes to the Smithsonian Institution. The books pertain mostly to the systematic botany of Mexico and Central America and remain in Baltimore. The herbarium now forms part of the U.S. National Herbarium reference. He died at age 99. In his last years, he was celebrated as the oldest living graduate of Yale.

References

External links

[1] - Catalogue of the Botanical Library of John Donnell Smith, presented in 1905 to the Smithsonian Institution

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with John Donnell Smith

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what John Donnell Smith claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, 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 Donnell Smith 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 Donnell Smith 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 Donnell Smith

In research: John Donnell Smith appears in biology 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 Donnell Smith 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 Donnell Smith is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1829 births, 1928 deaths, American biologist stubs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for John Donnell Smith 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 Donnell Smith in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is John Donnell Smith in simple terms?

Captain John Donnell Smith (June 5, 1829 – December 2, 1928) of Baltimore, Maryland was an American biologist and taxonomist. He was also an officer in the Confederate army.

Why does John Donnell Smith matter?

Because it connects several biology 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 Donnell Smith?

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 Donnell Smith.