chemistry

John Larkindale

John Larkindale is a chemistry 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 Larkindale rather than just read about it. In short: John Peter Larkindale (born 1946) is a New Zealand former public servant and diplomat, whose overseas postings including ambassador to the Russian Federation and high commissioner to Australia. Biography Larkindale was born in Wellington in 1946, to Robert and Liesel, Jewish migrants from Germany.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

John Peter Larkindale (born 1946) is a New Zealand former public servant and diplomat, whose overseas postings including ambassador to the Russian Federation and high commissioner to Australia.

Biography Larkindale was born in Wellington in 1946, to Robert and Liesel, Jewish migrants from Germany. Larkindale was educated at Wellington College. He then studied chemistry at Victoria University of Wellington, graduating BSc and then MSc(Hons). His 1968 master's thesis, supervised by Alan Freeman, was titled Some intercalation compounds of boron nitride. Larkindale was awarded an 1851 Exhibition Scholarship, and he went on to complete a PhD at McGill University in Canada in 1971. His doctoral thesis, supervised by David J. Simkin, was titled Spectroscopic and theoretical studies of charge-transfer complexes. Larkindale joined the staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1972, and had postings to New Zealand's embassies in Vienna and Washington. He then served as the director of Pacific aid, based in Wellington and, later, Tokelau official secretary. Subsequently, he was the deputy head of mission in Beijing and then London. In 1994, he was appointed executive director of the Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) task force, responsible for organising the CHOGM summit held in Auckland the following year. In the 1996 New Year Honours, Larkindale was appointed a Companion of the Queen's Service Order for public services. Between 1996 and 1999, Larkindale was the New Zealand ambassador to the Russian Federation. Returning to Wellington, he was appointed deputy secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Larkindale's final diplomatic appointment was as high commissioner to Australia, in which role he served from 2006 until his retirement in 2011. Larkindale became a member of the board of the Institute of Public Administration New Zealand (IPANZ) in 2012, and in March 2013 he was elected president of IPANZ.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with John Larkindale

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

In research: John Larkindale appears in chemistry 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 Larkindale 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 Larkindale is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1946 births, 20th-century New Zealand diplomats, 21st-century New Zealand diplomats, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for John Larkindale 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 Larkindale in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is John Larkindale in simple terms?

John Peter Larkindale (born 1946) is a New Zealand former public servant and diplomat, whose overseas postings including ambassador to the Russian Federation and high commissioner to Australia. Biography Larkindale was born in Wellington in 1946, to Robert and Liesel, Jewish migrants from Germany.

Why does John Larkindale matter?

Because it connects several chemistry 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 Larkindale?

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 Larkindale.