astronomy

Michael Festing

Michael Festing 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 Michael Festing rather than just read about it. In short: Michael Festing is a British research scientist best known for his interest in animal testing. He is one of 19 members of the UK's Animal Procedures Committee, which advises the Home Secretary on matters related to animal testing.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Michael Festing is a British research scientist best known for his interest in animal testing. He is one of 19 members of the UK's Animal Procedures Committee, which advises the Home Secretary on matters related to animal testing. He was previously a trustee of the Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments (FRAME [1]), which funds and promotes research into the use of animal alternatives. He is also a council member of the Institute of Laboratory Animals Research USA. [2] Most of Festing's career has been involved in promoting reduction of the numbers of animals used in research. Nonetheless, Festing has been criticized by the animal rights movement for his investment in companies that engage in animal testing, which according to the Animal Procedures Committee register of members' interests, [3] includes AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Alizyme, Akambis, Cambridge Antibody, Shire Pharmaceuticals, and Celltech. [4] He is also a consultant geneticist to Harlan UK, which supplies animals to laboratories. [5]

Life and education Festing is a chartered statistician, has a Ph.D in quantitative genetics from Iowa State University, and a D.Sc. from the University of London. He is the father of Simon Festing, the former executive director of the Research Defence Society, which focuses on supplying information about, and defending, the use of animals in medical experiments in the UK.

Research Festing is the author of over 200 scientific papers on laboratory animal genetics and related issues. He has a particular interest in improving the design of animal experiments, particularly in the area of toxicology testing. He has written books cataloguing laboratory animals, including International Index of Laboratory Animals and Inbred Strains in Biomedical Research.

Award He was the winner in 1996 of the GlaxoSmithKline Laboratory Animal Welfare Prize for his work while at the University of Leicester on "improved experimental design leading to reductions in the use of laboratory animals." [6]

References Brief biography of Michael Festing, PharmaDiscovery, retrieved February 22, 2006 Corporate members of FRAME, Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments, retrieved February 22, 2006 Current APC Members and Register of Interests, Animal Procedures Committee, retrieved February 22, 2006 "RDS, Michael Festing, and Simon Festing: Who's Who", Americans for Medical Advancement, retrieved February 22, 2006 "GlaxoSmithKline laboratory animal welfare prize", Research Defence Society

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Michael Festing

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Michael Festing 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 Michael Festing 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 Michael Festing 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 Michael Festing

In research: Michael Festing 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 Michael Festing 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: Michael Festing is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Academics of the University of Leicester, Alumni of the University of London, Animal testing in the United Kingdom, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Michael Festing 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 Michael Festing in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Michael Festing in simple terms?

Why does Michael Festing 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 Michael Festing?

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 Michael Festing.