chemistry

Margaret Brimble

Margaret Brimble is a chemistry 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 Margaret Brimble rather than just read about it. In short: Dame Margaret Anne Brimble (née MacMillan; born 20 August 1961) is a New Zealand chemist. Her research has included investigations of shellfish toxins and means to treat brain injuries.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Dame Margaret Anne Brimble (née MacMillan; born 20 August 1961) is a New Zealand chemist. Her research has included investigations of shellfish toxins and means to treat brain injuries.

Early life, family, and education Brimble was born in Auckland on 20 August 1961, the daughter of Mary Anne MacMillan (née Williamson) and Herbert MacMillan, and was encouraged by her grandmother to value education. She attended Diocesan School for Girls, Auckland from 1972 to 1978, and was dux in her final year. She went on to study chemistry at the University of Auckland from 1979 to 1983, graduating Bachelor of Science in 1982 and Master of Science with first-class honours in 1983. She was awarded a New Zealand Commonwealth scholarship to undertake a PhD in organic chemistry at the University of Southampton.

Career and research Brimble holds the chair of organic and medicinal chemistry at the University of Auckland and is also a principal investigator in the Maurice Wilkins Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery.

Awards and honours She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand and the Royal Society of Chemistry. Brimble was the first New Zealander to receive the L'Oreal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science, and the second woman to receive the Rutherford medal. Brimble was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to science in the 2004 New Year Honours. In the 2012 New Year Honours, she was promoted to Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, also for services to science. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2018. In the 2019 New Year Honours, she was promoted to Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to science. In 2014, Brimble received the Science and Innovation Award at the New Zealand Women of Influence Awards. In 2017, Brimble was selected as one of the Royal Society Te Apārangi's "150 women in 150 words", celebrating the contributions of women to knowledge in New Zealand. In 2023, Brimble received the Ernest Guenther Award in Chemistry of Natural Products

Personal life In 1981, she married Mark Timothy Brimble.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Margaret Brimble

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Margaret Brimble claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, 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 Margaret Brimble 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 Margaret Brimble 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 Margaret Brimble

In research: Margaret Brimble appears in chemistry 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 Margaret Brimble 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: Margaret Brimble is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1961 births, 20th-century New Zealand chemists, 20th-century New Zealand women scientists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Margaret Brimble 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 Margaret Brimble in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Margaret Brimble in simple terms?

Dame Margaret Anne Brimble (née MacMillan; born 20 August 1961) is a New Zealand chemist. Her research has included investigations of shellfish toxins and means to treat brain injuries.

Why does Margaret Brimble matter?

Because it connects several chemistry 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 Margaret Brimble?

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 Margaret Brimble.