astronomy

Martin Holdgate

Martin Holdgate 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 Martin Holdgate rather than just read about it. In short: Sir Martin Wyatt Holdgate (born 14 January 1931) is an English biologist and environmental scientist. Early life Holdgate was born in Horsham, England on 14 January 1931, grew up in Blackpool, and was educated at Arnold School.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Sir Martin Wyatt Holdgate (born 14 January 1931) is an English biologist and environmental scientist.

Early life Holdgate was born in Horsham, England on 14 January 1931, grew up in Blackpool, and was educated at Arnold School. He then attended Cambridge University as an undergraduate at Queens' College, Cambridge from 1949, graduating in 1952 with degrees in zoology and botany and, subsequently, a doctorate in insect physiology.

Career He taught at Manchester University, Durham University and Cambridge, as well as undertaking expeditions to Tristan da Cunha, south-west Chile and the Antarctic. He was Chief Biologist to the British Antarctic Survey, then research director of the Nature Conservancy Council and, for eighteen years, Chief Scientist and head of research at the Department of the Environment. Subsequently, he was Director General of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. After his formal retirement, he was a member of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution and served as co-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests, and Secretary of the UN Secretary General's High-Level Board on Sustainable Development.

Awards and honours Holdgate has received numerous awards and honours for his work.

1964 (1964): W. S. Bruce Medal of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1979 (1979): Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) 1983 (1983): UNEP Silver Medal from the United Nations Environment Programme 1988 (1988): UNEP 500 Award also from the United Nations Environment Programme 1991 (1991): Commander Order of the Golden Ark (Netherlands) 1991 (1991): Honorary DSc from the University of Durham 1992 (1992): Patron's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society 1993 (1993): Livingstone Medal of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society 1993 (1993): Honorary DSc from the University of Sussex 1994 (1994): Knight Bachelor (styled Sir Martin Holdgate, CB) 1995 (1995): Honorary DSc from the University of Lancaster 1997 (1997): Honorary Fellow of Royal Holloway, University of London 2000 (2000): Honorary member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) 2005 (2005): Honorary Fellow of the Zoological Society of London 2006 (2006): Honorary DSc from Queen Mary, University of London Holdgate has been President of the Zoological Society of London and of the Freshwater Biological Association. He is also a member and fellow of the Institute of Biology, making him a Chartered Biologist, and entitling him to use the designations C.Biol and F.I.Biol. In July 2014, he was appointed President of Friends of the Lake District.

Publications Holdgate edited the journal Antarctic Ecology (published for the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, by the Academic Press) from the first edition in 1970. His publications include the following:

—— (1958). Mountains in the Sea. Macmillan; St.Martin's Press. —— (1979). A Perspective of Environmental Pollution. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521221979. —— (1996). From Care to Action. Hemisphere. ISBN 978-1560325604. —— (1999). The Green Web: A Union for World Conservation. Routledge. ISBN 978-1853835957. —— (2003). Penguins and Mandarins: Memories of Natural and Un-Natural History. Memoir Club. ISBN 978-1841040790. —— (2006). The Story of Appleby in Westmorland. Hayloft Publishing. ISBN 978-1904524359. —— (2009). Arnold: the story of a Blackpool school. Hayloft Publishing. ISBN 978-1904524632.

As editor The World Environment 1972–82. Tycooly International Publishing Ltd. 1982. ISBN 978-0907567141. (joint editor)

References

External links Biographical entry at UNEP Global 500 Forum Career summary from Debretts

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Martin Holdgate

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Martin Holdgate 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 Martin Holdgate 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 Martin Holdgate 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 Martin Holdgate

In research: Martin Holdgate 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 Martin Holdgate 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: Martin Holdgate is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1931 births, Academics of Durham University, Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Martin Holdgate 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 Martin Holdgate in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Martin Holdgate in simple terms?

Sir Martin Wyatt Holdgate (born 14 January 1931) is an English biologist and environmental scientist. Early life Holdgate was born in Horsham, England on 14 January 1931, grew up in Blackpool, and was educated at Arnold School.

Why does Martin Holdgate 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 Martin Holdgate?

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 Martin Holdgate.