astronomy

Margaret Levyns

Margaret Levyns 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 Margaret Levyns rather than just read about it. In short: Margaret Rutherford Bryan Levyns (née Michell, 24 August 1890 Cape Town – 11 November 1975 Cape Town) was an eminent South African phytogeographer, botanist and taxonomist. She wrote A Guide to the Flora of the Cape Peninsula published in 1929.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Margaret Rutherford Bryan Levyns (née Michell, 24 August 1890 Cape Town – 11 November 1975 Cape Town) was an eminent South African phytogeographer, botanist and taxonomist. She wrote A Guide to the Flora of the Cape Peninsula published in 1929. Several species are named for her and specimens she collected are in collections.

Early life and education Margaret Rutherford Bryan Michell, was initially educated at home by her mother and later attended Ellerslie Girls' School. She obtained a first class matriculation and was awarded two bursaries. In 1908 she enrolled at the South African College intending to study mathematics, geology and chemistry, with botany for her honours year. Prof. Harold Pearson persuaded her to take botany as a major subject. She initially studied mathematics. After winning two scholarships, the Queen Victoria Scholarship and the 1851 Exhibition Memorial Scholarship and spending 1912-14 at Newnham College, she returned to South Africa and was promptly awarded another scholarship to the John Innes Institute where she chose to study genetics. On returning to South Africa for the second time, she took up a lecturing post in the Botany Department at the South African College which later became the University of Cape Town. She was the first woman to receive a D.Sc. degree from University of Cape Town, for her 1932 thesis 'A taxonomic study of Lobostemon and Echiostachys'. Her publications included A Guide to the Flora of the Cape Peninsula in 1929, and substantial sections of Flora of the Cape Peninsula by Adamson & Salter in 1950.

After her retirement in 1945, she remained active in the botanical field and published numerous papers on taxonomy and phytogeography. She revised a number of South African genera e.g. Muraltia. In 1923 she married John Levyns, later Assistant Provincial Secretary of the Cape Province and who served on the council of the Botanical Society of South Africa. Margaret Levyns is commemorated in Thamnochortus levynsiae Pillans, Nivenia levynsiae H. Weimarck and Crassula levynsiae Adamson. Some 12 000 of her collected specimens are lodged with the Bolus Herbarium (BOL) in Cape Town, the National Herbarium (PRE) in Pretoria, the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew (K) and other herbaria. This botanist is denoted by the author abbreviation Levyns when citing a botanical name.

Honours and awards President of Section B of the South African Association for Advancement of Science 1952/53 South African Medal 1958 President of the Royal Society of South Africa 1962/63 (first woman to hold this seat)

See also Timeline of women in science List of authors of South African botanical taxa

References

External links Biography of Margaret Levyns at the S2A3 Biographical Database of Southern African Science Royal Society of South Africa Archived 26 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine University of Cape Town Libraries

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Margaret Levyns

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Margaret Levyns 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 Margaret Levyns 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 Levyns 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 Levyns

In research: Margaret Levyns 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 Margaret Levyns 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 Levyns is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1890 births, 1975 deaths, 20th-century South African botanists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Margaret Levyns 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 Levyns in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Margaret Levyns in simple terms?

Why does Margaret Levyns 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 Margaret Levyns?

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 Levyns.