astronomy

Madsen Pirie

Madsen Pirie 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 Madsen Pirie rather than just read about it. In short: Duncan Madsen Pirie (born 24 August 1940) is a British researcher and author. He is a co-founder and current president of the Adam Smith Institute, a UK neoliberal think tank which has been in operation since 1977.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Duncan Madsen Pirie (born 24 August 1940) is a British researcher and author. He is a co-founder and current president of the Adam Smith Institute, a UK neoliberal think tank which has been in operation since 1977.

Early life and education Duncan Madsen Pirie was born on 24 August 1940 in Hull, the son of Douglas Pirie and Eva Madsen. As a child he attended the Humberstone Foundation School (also known as Clee Grammar School for Boys and later Matthew Humberstone Comprehensive School) in Old Clee, Lincolnshire. He graduated with an MA (undergraduate) in History from the University of Edinburgh (1970). He attended the University of St Andrews, joining the Conservative Association, and graduating with a PhD in philosophy in 1974. He earned an MPhil in Land Economy from Pembroke College, Cambridge (1997). Pirie was secretary of Mensa International from 1979 to 1992.

Career Before co-founding the Adam Smith Institute, Pirie worked for the United States House of Representatives. He was a visiting professor of logic and philosophy at the private Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, Michigan, US. Alongside Douglas Mason, he helped devise the poll tax. Pirie was one of three Britons living in the United States who founded the Adam Smith Institute, a UK-based think tank that champions the ideas of free market policy, and the elimination of government economic controls. In January 2010 Foreign Policy and the University of Pennsylvania named the Adam Smith Institute among the top 10 think tanks in the world outside of the US. Pirie served as the organization's president. The Adam Smith Institute was ranked 56th in the 2019 University of Pennsylvania index report. Pirie was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to public policy.

Bibliography

Non-fiction Economy and Local Government (Adam Smith Institute, with Eamonn Butler, 1981) Strategy Two (1981) The Logic of Economics (Adam Smith Institute, 1982) Free Ports (Adam Smith Institute, with Eamonn Butler, 1983) Test Your I.Q. (with Eamonn Butler, 1983) The Future of Pensions (1983) Aid by Enterprise: Market Solutions to the Problem of Development (1984) The Book of Fallacy: A Training Manual for Intellectual Subversives (Routledge, 1985) Dismantling the State: The Theory (National Center for Policy Analysis, 1985) Privatization: Theory, Practice and Choice (Avebury, 1988) Micropolitics (Wildhood House, 1988) The Health of Nations (Adam Smith Institute, with Eamonn Butler, 1988) The Health Alternatives (Adam Smith Institute, with Eamonn Butler, 1988) Enlightenment: Changing the System (with Eamonn Butler, 1988) Health Management Units (with Eamonn Butler, 1988) Managing Better Health (with Michael Goldsmith, 1988) Extending Care (with Eamonn Butler, 1989) Curbing Crime: Its Origins, Pattern, and Prevention (with Sir John Wheeler, Mary Tuck, Barry Poyner, 1989) Wider Still and Wider: Europe and the East (with Peter Young and Norman Stone, 1990) Boost Your IQ (with Eamonn Butler, 1991) Citizens Charter (1991) Blueprint for a Revolution (1993) The End of the Welfare State (with Michael Bell, Eamonn Butler, David Marsland, 1994) 20-20 Vision: Targets for Britain (1994) Sherlock Holmes IQ Book: Test Your I.Q. Against the Great Detective (with Eamonn Butler, 1995) IQ Puzzlers (with Eamonn Butler, 1995) Fortune Account (with Eamonn Butler, 1995) The Millennial Generation (with Robert M. Worcester, 1998) The Next Leaders (with Robert M. Worcester, 1999) How to Win Every Argument: The Use and Abuse of Logic (Continuum, 2007) Freedom 101 (2008) Zero Base Policy (2009) 101 Great Thinkers – Makers of Modern Thought (Continuum, 2009) Economics Made Simple: How Money, Trade and Markets Really Work (2011) Think Tank: The Story of the Adam Smith Institute (BiteBack, 2012) Trial & Error and the Idea of Progress (Adam Smith Institute, 2015)

Fiction The Waters of Andros (2007) Children of the Night (2007) Dark Visitor (2007) The Emerald Warriors (2011) Tree Boy (2012) Silver Dawn (2013) Team Games (2013) Spelthorpe (2016)

References

External links Adam Smith Institute Madsen Pirie at the Adam Smith Institute (Archived) Madsen Pirie, at DeBretts

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Madsen Pirie

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Madsen Pirie 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 Madsen Pirie 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 Madsen Pirie 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 Madsen Pirie

In research: Madsen Pirie 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 Madsen Pirie 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: Madsen Pirie is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1940 births, Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge, Alumni of the University of Edinburgh, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Madsen Pirie 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 Madsen Pirie in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Madsen Pirie in simple terms?

Why does Madsen Pirie 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 Madsen Pirie?

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 Madsen Pirie.