science

John Major Jenkins

John Major Jenkins 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 Major Jenkins rather than just read about it. In short: John Major Jenkins (4 March 1964 – 2 July 2017) was an American author and pseudoscientific researcher. He is best known for his works that theorize certain astronomical and esoteric connections of the calendar systems used by the Maya civilization of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

John Major Jenkins (4 March 1964 – 2 July 2017) was an American author and pseudoscientific researcher. He is best known for his works that theorize certain astronomical and esoteric connections of the calendar systems used by the Maya civilization of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. His writings are particularly associated with 2012 millenarianism and the development of Mayanism in contemporary and popular culture, as an outgrowth from the New Age milieu. He is one of the principal figures who have promoted the idea that the ancient Maya calendar ends on 21 December 2012 and that this portended major changes for the Earth. He has self-published a number of books through his Four Ahau Press. He died on 2 July 2017 from cancer of the kidney at the age of 53.

Alternative view of cosmology Jenkins considered scientific approaches to cosmology a byproduct of limited thinking. In Tzolkin: Visionary Perspectives and Calendar Studies, he writes, "I primarily wish to promote a visionary approach to these matters, as there is much more to the Sacred Calendar than can be seen with the rational intellect," and that these visionary perspectives "can more closely touch the spirit of the calendar" than does the anthropological literature. Jenkins also maintained that, in order to accept and understand his cosmological theories, one must also accept the premise that the Mayan kings journeyed to “distant places,” and continuously “renewed” their kingdoms at specific points in the Maya calendar. Jenkins is also a supporter of “The Lost Star” theory which extrapolates the existence of a binary companion of the Earth’s sun based on a believed mathematical discrepancies in “earth wobble.”

Appearances In October of the year 2000, Jenkins work was featured on two episodes of Places of Mystery series on the Discovery Channel. Jenkins was interviewed and appears in the film Manifesting the Mind a film by Andrew Rutajit. Jenkins is featured speaking in the documentary 2012: Science or Superstition. The film explores the interpretations of the ancient Mayan predictions by researchers and scholars. Jenkins is also featured in the documentary/film 2012: Startling New Secrets.

Publications Journey to the Mayan Underworld (Four Ahau Press, Boulder, CO: 1989) Mirror in the Sky (Four Ahau Press, 1991) Tzolkin: Visionary Perspectives and Calendar Studies (Borderland Sciences Research Foundation, Garberville, CA: 1992/1994) Mayan Sacred Science (Four Ahau Press, Boulder, CO: 1994) Maya Cosmogenesis 2012 (Bear & Company, Santa Fe, NM: 1998) Galactic Alignment: The Transformation of Consciousness According to Mayan, Egyptian, and Vedic Traditions (Inner Traditions International (Rochester, VT) 2002) Pyramid of Fire, co-authored with Marty Matz, Bear & Company, 2004 The 2012 Story: The Myths, Fallacies, and Truth Behind the Most Intriguing Date in History (Tarcher/Penguin 2009) Three Plumes of Judas (fiction) self-published, 2017

References

External links Alignment 2012 John Major Jenkins own website. Accessed April 2009 John Major Jenkins video interview Archived 2009-10-10 at the Wayback Machine, John Major Jenkins discusses 2012 in a two-part video interview with his editor at Tarcher Books

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with John Major Jenkins

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what John Major Jenkins 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 Major Jenkins 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 Major Jenkins 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 Major Jenkins

In research: John Major Jenkins 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 Major Jenkins 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 Major Jenkins is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1964 births, 2017 deaths, Maya calendars, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for John Major Jenkins 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 Major Jenkins in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is John Major Jenkins in simple terms?

Why does John Major Jenkins 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 Major Jenkins?

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 Major Jenkins.