astronomy

John McLean Thompson

John McLean Thompson 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 McLean Thompson rather than just read about it. In short: John McLean Thompson FRSE FLS (1888–1977) was a 20th-century Scottish botanist. Life He was born in Rothesay on the isle of Bute in western Scotland on 22 July 1888, the son of Hugh Thompson.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

John McLean Thompson FRSE FLS (1888–1977) was a 20th-century Scottish botanist.

Life He was born in Rothesay on the isle of Bute in western Scotland on 22 July 1888, the son of Hugh Thompson. He was educated at Rothesay Academy then studied Science at Glasgow University, graduating MA in 1908 and BSc in 1911. In 1914 he began lecturing in Botany at Glasgow University. From 1913 to 1926 he corresponded with the botanist Frederick Orpen Bower. In the First World War he was attached to various military hospitals as a protozoologist studying infected wounds. In 1917 Thompson was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were Frederick Orpen Bower, Sir John Graham Kerr, Thomas Hastie Bryce and John Walter Gregory. He won that society's Neill Prize for the period 1921 to 1923. In 1918 he returned to Glasgow as a lecturer in Plant Morphology. In 1921 he was created Professor of Botany at Liverpool University and remained in that role until retirement in 1952. Among his doctoral students was the botanist and phycologist Elsie Conway. The University of Louvain awarded Thompson an honorary doctorate (DSc) in 1948. He died on 17 April 1977, aged 89.

Publications The Anatomy and Affinity of Deparia Moorei Hook (1915) Studies in Advancing Sterility (1929) The Theory of Scitaminean Flowering (1933) On the Floral Morphology of Elettaria Cardomomum Maton (1936)

Family In 1920 he married Dr Simone Denil.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with John McLean Thompson

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what John McLean Thompson 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 McLean Thompson 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 McLean Thompson 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 McLean Thompson

In research: John McLean Thompson 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 McLean Thompson 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 McLean Thompson is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1888 births, 1977 deaths, 20th-century Scottish botanists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for John McLean Thompson 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 McLean Thompson in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is John McLean Thompson in simple terms?

John McLean Thompson FRSE FLS (1888–1977) was a 20th-century Scottish botanist. Life He was born in Rothesay on the isle of Bute in western Scotland on 22 July 1888, the son of Hugh Thompson.

Why does John McLean Thompson 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 McLean Thompson?

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 McLean Thompson.