astronomy

Margaret Schabas

Margaret Schabas 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 Schabas rather than just read about it. In short: Margaret Schabas (born 1954) is a Canadian philosopher and professor of philosophy at the University of British Columbia notable for her work in the history and philosophy of science, particularly the science of economics. Schabas has also published numerous articles and book chapters on the British empiricists, David Hume, Adam Smith, and John Stuart Mill.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Margaret Schabas (born 1954) is a Canadian philosopher and professor of philosophy at the University of British Columbia notable for her work in the history and philosophy of science, particularly the science of economics. Schabas has also published numerous articles and book chapters on the British empiricists, David Hume, Adam Smith, and John Stuart Mill.

Early life and education Schabas was born in Toronto, Canada. Her grandfather, Barker Fairley, father, Ezra Schabas, and older brother, William Schabas, are all recipients of the Order of Canada. Her maternal grandmother, Margaret Fairley, was a prominent political activist and writer. Her mother, Ann Schabas, was Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Information (formerly the Faculty of Library and Information Studies) at the University of Toronto. Her brother Michael Schabas, is a prominent transit planner in the U.K., and another brother, Paul Schabas, is a Judge on the Superior Court of Ontario and served as Treasurer (President) of the Law Society of Ontario. Another brother, Richard Schabas, served as Chief Medical Officer for the Province of Ontario. Schabas holds a B.S. in Music (Oboe) and Philosophy of Science, and an A.M. in the History and Philosophy of Science, both from Indiana University-Bloomington. She completed her Ph.D. in the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology from the University of Toronto in 1983, and an M.A. in Economics from the University of Michigan in 1985.

Academic career Schabas has been a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1987–91) and York University in Toronto (1991-2001). She has been a visiting professor at Michigan State University, University of Colorado at Boulder, Harvard University, California Institute of Technology, the Sorbonne, and the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan. In 2001, she was appointed professor in the philosophy department of the University of British Columbia.[5] She has received a number of prestigious fellowships, taking her to Stanford University, Harvard University, Duke University, MIT, Cambridge, the Max Planck Institute, and the London School of Economics. Schabas chaired the Program Committee for the History of Science Society (1997) and served on its Council. From 2004-2009, she served as Head of the Philosophy Department at UBC and in 2013-14, she was elected and served as President of the History of Economics Society. She has received a teaching award from the Faculty of Arts, York University, and a Killam research award from the University of British Columbia and the Dean of Arts Annual Award (2022) from the University of British Columbia. In November 2022, she was inducted as Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

She is currently on the editorial or advisory board of a dozen journals, including Hume Studies, HOPOS, Economics and Philosophy, History of Political Economy, Journal of the History of Economic Thought, and the European Journal of the History of Economic Thought. She has given a number of keynote addresses, including to the International Hume Society, the History of Economics Society, and HOPOS.

Selected works

References

External links Faculty page at the University of British Columbia

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Margaret Schabas

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

In research: Margaret Schabas 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 Schabas 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 Schabas is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1954 births, 20th-century Canadian philosophers, 20th-century Canadian women writers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Margaret Schabas 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.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Margaret Schabas” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Margaret Schabas in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Margaret Schabas in simple terms?

Why does Margaret Schabas 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 Schabas?

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 Schabas.