astronomy

John Hedley Brooke

John Hedley Brooke 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 Hedley Brooke rather than just read about it. In short: John Hedley Brooke (born 20 May 1944) is a British historian of science specialising in the relationship between science and religion. Biography Born on 20 May 1944, Brooke is the son of Hedley Joseph Brooke, and Margaret Brooke, née Brown.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

John Hedley Brooke (born 20 May 1944) is a British historian of science specialising in the relationship between science and religion.

Biography Born on 20 May 1944, Brooke is the son of Hedley Joseph Brooke, and Margaret Brooke, née Brown. He was educated at King Edward VI Grammar School, Retford, then Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. On 30 August 1972, he married Janice Marian Heffer.

Academic career He was a Research Fellow at Fitzwilliam College from 1967 to 1968, then a Tutorial Fellow at the University of Sussex from 1968 to 1969. He was on the faculty of Lancaster University from 1969 to 1999, rising from Lecturer to Professor of History of Science. With Geoffrey Cantor he gave the Gifford Lectures at the University of Glasgow in 1995. He was appointed the first Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion at The University of Oxford in 1999, where he directed the Ian Ramsey Centre and was a Fellow of Harris Manchester College, Oxford. After his retirement in 2006, he became an Emeritus Fellow of Harris Manchester College and was a Distinguished Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Study in the University of Durham in 2007. He was the editor of the British Journal for the History of Science from 1989 to 1993. He was the president of the British Society for the History of Science from 1996 to 1998, and has been the president of Science and Religion Forum since 2006. He was also the president of the International Society for Science and Religion (ISSR) from 2008 to 2011. Brooke was subsequently made an Honorary Fellow (HonFISSR). Evaluations of John Hedley Brooke's contribution to the historiography of "science and religion" can be found in: Science and Religion: New Historical Perspectives (ed. T Dixon, G N Cantor and S Pumfrey) 2010 and Rethinking History, Science and Religion: An Exploration of Conflict and the Complexity Principle (ed. B Lightman) 2019

Publications

Books Science and Religion: Some Historical Perspectives (1991 and 2014) Thinking About Matter (1995) Reconstructing Nature: The Engagement of Science and Religion (with G. N. Cantor, 1998) Science in Theistic Contexts (ed. 2001) Heterodoxy in Early Modern Science and Religion (ed. 2005) Religious Values and the Rise of Science in Europe (ed. 2005) Science & Religion around the World (ed. 2011) Other publications number more than one hundred journal articles and book chapters including contributions to:The Cambridge Companion to Darwin; The Cambridge Companion to the "Origin of Species"; The Cambridge Companion to Science and Religion The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science; The Oxford Handbook of Nineteenth-Century British Philosophy; The Oxford Handbook of the Reception History of the Bible; The Oxford Handbook of Natural Theology (editorial consultant)

Quotes ...I believe we have to revisit and resist the common assumption that scientific progress has been the main cause of secularisation.

References

External links Official website Biography of Brooke, Institute of Advanced Study Biography of Brooke, Gresham College Biography of Brooke, International Society for Science and Religion Biographical Recorded history: Catalogue Ref: C1672/08 Hedley Brooke, John http://sounds.bl.uk/Oral-history/Science

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with John Hedley Brooke

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what John Hedley Brooke 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 Hedley Brooke 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 Hedley Brooke 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 Hedley Brooke

In research: John Hedley Brooke 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 Hedley Brooke 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 Hedley Brooke is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1944 births, Academics of Lancaster University, Academics of the University of Sussex, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for John Hedley Brooke 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 Hedley Brooke in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is John Hedley Brooke in simple terms?

John Hedley Brooke (born 20 May 1944) is a British historian of science specialising in the relationship between science and religion. Biography Born on 20 May 1944, Brooke is the son of Hedley Joseph Brooke, and Margaret Brooke, née Brown.

Why does John Hedley Brooke 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 Hedley Brooke?

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 Hedley Brooke.