science

John Spilsbury (cartographer)

John Spilsbury (cartographer) 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 Spilsbury (cartographer) rather than just read about it. In short: John Spilsbury (/I.P.A. spɪlsbəri/ 1739 – 3 April 1769) was an English cartographer and engraver. He is credited as the inventor of the jigsaw puzzle.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

John Spilsbury (/I.P.A. spɪlsbəri/ 1739 – 3 April 1769) was an English cartographer and engraver. He is credited as the inventor of the jigsaw puzzle. Spilsbury created them for educational purposes, and called them "Dissected Maps".

Life and works

John Spilsbury was the second of three sons of Thomas Spilsbury; the engraver Jonathan Spilsbury was his elder brother, and the two have sometimes been confused. He served as an apprentice to Thomas Jefferys, the Royal Geographer to King George III. Spilsbury advertised himself as an 'engraver and map dissector in wood' in 1763 and is almost certainly the earliest commercial producer of jigsaw puzzles. He created the first puzzle in 1766 as an educational tool to teach geography. He affixed a world map to wood and carved each country out to create the first puzzle. Sensing a business opportunity, he created puzzles on eight themes - the World, Europe, Asia, Africa, America, England and Wales, Ireland, and Scotland. Another individual has been identified as a maker of map puzzles before Spilsbury was selling his wares: Madame de Beaumont, a French author and educator living in England from 1748-1762. Madame de Beaumont's 'wooden maps' are referred to in letters sent in 1759 and 1762, predating the sale of Spilsbury's puzzles. Spilsbury married Sarah May of Newmarket, Suffolk in 1761. After his death she ran his business for a period, then married Harry Ashby who had been apprentice to Spilsbury, and who continued to sell puzzles.

References

External links John Spilsbury at the National Portrait Gallery Jigsaw puzzle, 1766 Archived 14 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with John Spilsbury (cartographer)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what John Spilsbury (cartographer) 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 Spilsbury (cartographer) 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 Spilsbury (cartographer) 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 Spilsbury (cartographer)

In research: John Spilsbury (cartographer) 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 Spilsbury (cartographer) 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 Spilsbury (cartographer) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1739 births, 1769 deaths, 18th-century British cartographers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for John Spilsbury (cartographer) 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 Spilsbury (cartographer) in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is John Spilsbury (cartographer) in simple terms?

John Spilsbury (/I.P.A. spɪlsbəri/ 1739 – 3 April 1769) was an English cartographer and engraver. He is credited as the inventor of the jigsaw puzzle.

Why does John Spilsbury (cartographer) 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 Spilsbury (cartographer)?

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 Spilsbury (cartographer).