astronomy

Marian Irwin Osterhout

Marian Irwin Osterhout 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 Marian Irwin Osterhout rather than just read about it. In short: Marian Irwin Osterhout (June 16, 1888 – May 10, 1973), was an American plant physiologist born in Japan. She was the first woman to receive a National Research Council fellowship.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Marian Irwin Osterhout (June 16, 1888 – May 10, 1973), was an American plant physiologist born in Japan. She was the first woman to receive a National Research Council fellowship.

Early life and education Marian Irwin was born in Tokyo, the daughter of Iki Takechi Irwin and Robert Walker Irwin. Her mother was a Japanese noblewoman, the daughter of a samurai; her father was an American diplomat, the son of William W. Irwin and a direct descendant of Benjamin Franklin. Her older sister Bella Irwin founded a school in Tokyo. Their aunt, Agnes Irwin, was also an educator, the first dean of Radcliffe College. Marian Irwin was educated in Japan and at Bryn Mawr College, where she earned a bachelor's degree in 1913. She earned a doctoral degree in biology, at Radcliffe College in 1919, as a student of George Howard Parker. Her dissertation title was "Effect of Electrolytes and Non-electrolytes on Organisms in Relation to Sensory Stimulation and Respiration."

Career After graduate school, Marian Irwin attended the National Conference for the Limitation of Armaments in 1921, as assistant to professor Hideko Inouye, President of the Woman's Peace Organization of Japan. She became the first woman to receive a National Research Council fellowship, which she held at Harvard from 1923 to 1925. Marian Irwin Osterhout was a paid researcher at the Rockefeller Institute from 1925 to 1933 (and unpaid after that for many years, because she was married to another scientist there), specializing in cell permeability, especially the penetration and accumulation of dyes. She was a member of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and wrote about fifty scientific papers for publication before she married. She also assisted her husband in his research, and they traveled and wrote together.

Personal life Marian Irwin married fellow plant scientist Winthrop John Van Leuven Osterhout (1871-1964), in 1933. She died 1973, aged 84 years, in New York City. Her gravesite is with Osterhout's, in a Philadelphia churchyard.

References

External links A 1921 photograph of Marian Irwin and Hideko Inouye, from the Library of Congress.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Marian Irwin Osterhout

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Marian Irwin Osterhout 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 Marian Irwin Osterhout 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 Marian Irwin Osterhout 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 Marian Irwin Osterhout

In research: Marian Irwin Osterhout 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 Marian Irwin Osterhout 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: Marian Irwin Osterhout is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1888 births, 1973 deaths, 20th-century American botanists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Marian Irwin Osterhout 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 Marian Irwin Osterhout in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Marian Irwin Osterhout in simple terms?

Marian Irwin Osterhout (June 16, 1888 – May 10, 1973), was an American plant physiologist born in Japan. She was the first woman to receive a National Research Council fellowship.

Why does Marian Irwin Osterhout 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 Marian Irwin Osterhout?

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 Marian Irwin Osterhout.