astronomy

John Macnaghten Whittaker

John Macnaghten Whittaker 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 Macnaghten Whittaker rather than just read about it. In short: John Macnaghten Whittaker FRS FRSE LLD (7 March 1905 – 29 January 1984) was a British mathematician and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sheffield from 1953 to 1965. Life Whittaker was born 7 March 1905 in Cambridge, the son of mathematician Edmund Taylor Whittaker and his wife, Mary Ferguson Macnaghten Boyd (grand-daughter of Thomas Jamieson Boyd).

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

John Macnaghten Whittaker FRS FRSE LLD (7 March 1905 – 29 January 1984) was a British mathematician and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sheffield from 1953 to 1965.

Life Whittaker was born 7 March 1905 in Cambridge, the son of mathematician Edmund Taylor Whittaker and his wife, Mary Ferguson Macnaghten Boyd (grand-daughter of Thomas Jamieson Boyd). He was educated at St Salvator's School in St Andrews then Fettes College in Edinburgh. He then studied Maths and Physics at Edinburgh University from the age of 15, graduating MA in 1924. He followed this by three years at Trinity College, Cambridge, gaining a second MA in 1927. In 1927 started his academic career as an assistant lecturer in Mathematics at Edinburgh University. In 1928 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were Ralph Allan Sampson, Charles Glover Barkla, Sir Charles Galton Darwin and George James Lidstone. He was awarded a doctorate (DSc) in 1929, followed by a fellowship at Pembroke College, Cambridge, before becoming a professor of pure mathematics at Liverpool University in 1933. During the Second World War he served with the Royal Artillery including time in the 8th Army on Field-Marshal Montgomery's staff in Egypt and Tunisia 1942/43. In 1944/45 he was Scientific Advisor to the Army Council and rose to the rank of Lt Colonel. After the war he returned to Liverpool, becoming Dean of Science, then in 1953 moved to Sheffield to take up the post of Vice-Chancellor of the university. During his office the University expanded from 2500 to 7000 students, requiring the appointment of many new staff and the construction of many buildings. However, he also had to oversee the first closure of an English university department, the Department of Mining. His office covered the centenary celebration of the University in 1955, including a visit by queen Elizabeth II. He retired from this position in 1965, and was honoured by being given the Freedom of the City of Sheffield. In retirement he expanded his other interests in art and archeology, collecting watercolours and Persian antiques. He died 29 January 1984.

Family In 1933 he married Iona Mhari Natalie Elliott: they had two sons.

Work and honours There were early papers (1926–28) on quantum theory, but his main work was on complex analysis. J. M. Whittaker also made some significant development in the cardinal function theory of his father, E. T. Whittaker. In 1948 he won the Adams Prize, jointly with John Charles Burkill, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, and Walter Hayman. In 1949 J. M. Whittaker was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, an honour already held by his father – they were the only parent and child to have this simultaneously.

Publications Interpolatory function theory. Cambridge University Press. 1935; vii+107 pp.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link) 2nd edn. New York: Stechert-Hafner. 1964. Series of Polynomials. Cairo: Fouad I University, Faculty of Science. 1943. Sur les Séries de Base de Polynomes Quelconques. Paris: Gauthier-Villars. 1949.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with John Macnaghten Whittaker

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what John Macnaghten Whittaker 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 Macnaghten Whittaker 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 Macnaghten Whittaker 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 Macnaghten Whittaker

In research: John Macnaghten Whittaker 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 Macnaghten Whittaker 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 Macnaghten Whittaker is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1905 births, 1984 deaths, 20th-century English mathematicians, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for John Macnaghten Whittaker 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.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “John Macnaghten Whittaker” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study John Macnaghten Whittaker in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is John Macnaghten Whittaker in simple terms?

John Macnaghten Whittaker FRS FRSE LLD (7 March 1905 – 29 January 1984) was a British mathematician and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sheffield from 1953 to 1965. Life Whittaker was born 7 March 1905 in Cambridge, the son of mathematician Edmund Taylor Whittaker and his wife, Mary Ferguson M…

Why does John Macnaghten Whittaker 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 Macnaghten Whittaker?

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 Macnaghten Whittaker.