astronomy

Meemann Chang

Meemann Chang 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 Meemann Chang rather than just read about it. In short: Meemann Chang (Chinese: 张弥曼; born 17 April 1936) also known as Zhang Miman, is a Chinese paleontologist at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP). She completed her undergraduate studies at Moscow University and completed her PhD thesis entitled 'The braincase of Youngolepis, a Lower Devonian crossopterygian from Yunnan, south-western China' at Stockholm University.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Meemann Chang (Chinese: 张弥曼; born 17 April 1936) also known as Zhang Miman, is a Chinese paleontologist at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP). She completed her undergraduate studies at Moscow University and completed her PhD thesis entitled 'The braincase of Youngolepis, a Lower Devonian crossopterygian from Yunnan, south-western China' at Stockholm University. She was the first woman to become head of IVPP in 1983. For her many career achievements, she received an honorary degree from the University of Chicago in 2011 and the Romer-Simpson Medal from the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in 2016.

Biography Zhang was born into a wealthy and highly educated family in Nanjing, Jiangsu, on 17 April 1936, while her ancestral home is in Shengzhou, Zhejiang. Her father graduated from the University of Chicago. As a child, she was determined to become a doctor. After the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out, her family fled to different cities to take refuge. After initially living in Beibei, Sichuan, they then moved to Jiangxi, and finally they settled in Nantong. After graduating from Shanghai Tongji High School in 1953, she was admitted to Beijing Institute of Geology (now China University of Geosciences (Beijing)). Soon after, she was sent to Moscow State University to study at the expense of the government. When she returned to China, she was dispatched to the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In 1965, she became a visiting scholar at the National Museum of Natural Science in Sweden. After the reform and opening up in 1980, she went to Sweden again and received her PhD from Stockholm University in 1982. She was director of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in 1983 and held that office until 1990. She became chairman of the Paleontological Society of China in 1993, and served until 1997. In 2011, she was awarded an honorary doctor of science degree from the University of Chicago. On 5 October 2015, she received an honorary doctoral degree from the Richard Gilder Graduate School of the American Museum of Natural History. On 2 July 2021, asteroid 347336 was named after her.

Contributions Species named in her honour include the extinct sarcopterygian fish Meemannia, the theropod dinosaur Sinovenator changii, and the extinct ornithuromorph birds Archaeornithura meemannae and Meemannavis ductrix. There is also a unique organ of yunnanolepid antiarch placoderms named "Chang's Apparatus" after her. Elliott, David K.; Maisey, John G.; Yu, Xiaobo; Miao, Desui (2010), Morphology, Phylogeny and Paleobiogeography of Fossil Fishes, Munich: Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, ISBN 978-3-89937-122-2, a special book volume on fossil fish, was published in her honour. Chang notably first described and later re-described the fossil genus Paralycoptera, and also described the fossil genera Diabolepis and Youngolepis.

Selected publications Liu, H. & Chang, M. First discovery of helicoprionid in China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica (1963). Chang, M New materials of Mesoclupea from southeastern China and on the systematic position of the genus. Vertebrata PalAsiatica (1963). Chang, M. & Chou, J. On the fossil fishes in Mesozoic and Cenozoic oil-bearing strata from east China and their sedimentary environment. Vertebrata PalAsiatica (1978). Chang, M. Palaeontology: Fossil fish up for election. Nature 403, 152–153 (2000). Chang, M., Miao, D., Chen, Y., Zhou, J. & Chen, P. Suckers (Fish, Catostomidae) from the Eocene of China account for the family's current disjunct distributions. Sci. China Ser. D-Earth Sci. 44, 577–586 (2001). Chang, M., Peiji, C., Yuanqing, W. & Yuan, W. Jehol Biota. Shanghai: Shanghai Scientific and (2003). Chen, G., Fang, F. & Chang, M. A new cyprinid closely related to cultrins+xenocyprinins from the mid-Tertiary of South China. J. Vertebr. Paleontol. 25, 492–501 (2005). Chang, M., Zhang, J. & Miao, D. A lamprey from the Cretaceous Jehol biota of China. Nature 441, 972–974 (2006). Wang, X. ... Chang, M. et al. Vertebrate paleontology, biostratigraphy, geochronology, and paleoenvironment of Qaidam Basin in northern Tibetan Plateau. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 254, 363–385 (2007). Chang, M. et al. Extraordinarily thick-boned fish linked to the aridification of the Qaidam Basin (northern Tibetan Plateau). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105, 13246–13251 (2008). Liu, J. & Chang, M. A new Eocene catostomid (Teleostei: Cypriniformes) from northeastern China and early divergence of Catostomidae. Sci. China Ser. D-Earth Sci. 52, 189–202 (2009). Xu, G.-H. & Chang, M. Redescription of †Paralycoptera wui Chang & Chou, 1977 (Teleostei: Osteoglossoidei) from the Early Cretaceous of eastern China. Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 157, 83–106 (2009). Wang, N. & Chang, M. Pliocene cyprinids (Cypriniformes, Teleostei) from Kunlun Pass Basin, northeastern Tibetan Plateau and their bearings on development of water system and uplift of the area. Sci. China Earth Sci. 53, 485–500 (2010). Chen, G. & Chang, M. A new early cyprinin from Oligocene of South China. Sci. China Earth Sci. 54, 481–492 (2011). Wang, N. & Chang, M. Discovery of fossil Nemacheilids (Cypriniformes, Teleostei, Pisces) from the Tibetan Plateau, China. Sci. China Earth Sci. 55, 714–727 (2012).

Honours 1991 Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering 1995 Foreign Fellow of the Linnean Society of London 2011 Foreign Fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 2015 Doctor of Science, Honoris Causa [Richard Gilder Graduate School of the American Museum of Natural History] 2016 Romer-Simpson Medal,Society of Vertebrate Paleontology 2018 and 2019 Asian Scientist 100, Asian Scientist

Awards On November 13, 2017, Chang was awarded the L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science. She was nominated for "her pioneering work on fossil records leading to insights on how aquatic vertebrates adapted to life and land." In November 2017, Chang was also awarded the Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation Achievement Prize.

References

External links IVPP's Professor to Receive Honorary Degree from Chicago University CAS Members

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Meemann Chang

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Meemann Chang 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 Meemann Chang 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 Meemann Chang 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 Meemann Chang

In research: Meemann Chang 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 Meemann Chang 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: Meemann Chang is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1936 births, Biologists from Jiangsu, Chinese paleontologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Meemann Chang 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 Meemann Chang in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Meemann Chang in simple terms?

Why does Meemann Chang 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 Meemann Chang?

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 Meemann Chang.