science

John Farley (historian)

John Farley (historian) is a science 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 Farley (historian) rather than just read about it. In short: John Farley, born in Leicester on April 23, 1936, and died on November 10, 2015, was a Canadian science historian, author of several works and articles on the history of medicine. His work has had an influence on the sociology of scientific knowledge.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

John Farley, born in Leicester on April 23, 1936, and died on November 10, 2015, was a Canadian science historian, author of several works and articles on the history of medicine. His work has had an influence on the sociology of scientific knowledge. In a 1999 article and a 2003 book, D. Raynaud concludes that the apology for Félix Pouchet presented by Farley and Gerald L. Geison in their 1974 article on the controversy between Pouchet and Pasteur is futile.

Publications J. Farley et G. Geison, "Science, Politics, and Spontaneous Generation in Nineteenth-Century France : The Pasteur-Pouchet Debate", Bulletin of the History of Medicine, t. 48 (1974), p. 161–198. The spontaneous generation controversy from Descartes to Oparin, Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1977. Gametes & spores : ideas about sexual reproduction, 1750-1914, Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1982. Bilharzia : a history of imperial tropical medicine, Cambridge; New York, Cambridge University Press, 1991. To cast out disease : a history of the International Health Division of the Rockefeller Foundation (1913-1951), Oxford; New York : Oxford University Press, 2004. John Farley and Gerald L. Geison, "Le débat entre Pateur et Pouchet: science, politique et génération spontanée au XIXe siècle en France", in Michel Callon et Bruno Latour, La science telle qu'elle se fait. Anthologie de la sociologie des sciences de langue anglaise, Éditions de La Découverte, 1991, p. 87–146. (French translation of the 1974 article.)

Notes and references

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with John Farley (historian)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what John Farley (historian) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, 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 Farley (historian) 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 Farley (historian) 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 Farley (historian)

In research: John Farley (historian) appears in science 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 Farley (historian) 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 Farley (historian) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1936 births, 2015 deaths, 20th-century Canadian historians, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for John Farley (historian) 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 Farley (historian) in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is John Farley (historian) in simple terms?

Why does John Farley (historian) matter?

Because it connects several science 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 Farley (historian)?

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 Farley (historian).