science

Marianne Horak

Marianne Horak is a science 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 Marianne Horak rather than just read about it. In short: Marianne Horak (born 1944) is a Swiss-Australian entomologist who specialises in Australian Lepidoptera, particularly the phycitine and tortricid moths, and is considered one of the worldwide leading experts on the systematics of Tortricidae. Education and career Horak studied at the Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zürich, earning her M.Sc. in 1970 and Ph.D. in 1983.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Marianne Horak (born 1944) is a Swiss-Australian entomologist who specialises in Australian Lepidoptera, particularly the phycitine and tortricid moths, and is considered one of the worldwide leading experts on the systematics of Tortricidae.

Education and career Horak studied at the Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zürich, earning her M.Sc. in 1970 and Ph.D. in 1983. She did extensive field work in New Zealand (1967–69), New Guinea (1971–73), and Indonesia (1985) before settling permanently in Australia. Horak has discovered several new species of Lepidoptera, including multiple species of Cadra, Heterochorista, and Ogmograptis, and did research on the scribbly gum moths, during which eleven new species of Ogmograptis were discovered. She also is the taxon authority for several genera, including Aglaogonia, Atriscripta, and Cnecidophora. She is the current editor-in-chief of Monographs of Australian Lepidoptera, chairperson of the Australian Lepidoptera Research Endowment, and honorary research fellow in Lepidoptera systematics at the Australian National Insect Collection at CSIRO, where she works as Lepidoptera curator and was head of Lepidoptera research until her retirement in 2010.

Awards and dedicated species Horak was the first recipient of the J. O. Westwood Medal for excellence in insect taxonomy for "her outstanding monograph entitled The Olethreutine Moths of Australia (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)", and appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in the 2023 King's Birthday Honours for "distinguished service to entomology, to taxonomic and phylogenetic research, and to philanthropic endeavours". The moth species Coleophora horakae, Hilarographa mariannae, and Myrtartona mariannae are dedicated to her.

Personal life Horak was born in Glarus, Switzerland in 1944. She was previously married to the Austrian mycologist Egon Horak.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Marianne Horak

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

In research: Marianne Horak appears in science 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 Marianne Horak 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: Marianne Horak is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1944 births, Australian entomologists, CSIRO people, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Marianne Horak 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 “Marianne Horak” →

Affiliate

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

How to study Marianne Horak in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Marianne Horak in simple terms?

Why does Marianne Horak matter?

Because it connects several science 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 Marianne Horak?

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 Marianne Horak.