physics

Michael Fowler

Michael Fowler is a physics 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 Fowler rather than just read about it. In short: Sir Edward Michael Coulson Fowler (19 December 1929 – 12 July 2022) was a New Zealand architect and author who served as mayor of Wellington from 1974 to 1983. Early life and family Fowler was born on 19 December 1929 in Marton, the son of William Coulson Fowler and Faith Agnes Netherclift.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Sir Edward Michael Coulson Fowler (19 December 1929 – 12 July 2022) was a New Zealand architect and author who served as mayor of Wellington from 1974 to 1983.

Early life and family Fowler was born on 19 December 1929 in Marton, the son of William Coulson Fowler and Faith Agnes Netherclift. He was educated at Manchester Street School in Feilding and Christ's College in Christchurch, before studying architecture at Auckland University College between 1950 and 1952 and earning a Diploma of Architecture. He later returned to the University of Auckland, graduating with a Master of Architecture degree in 1973. In 1953, Fowler married Barbara Hamilton Hall, and the couple went on to have three children.

Architectural career Fowler started his career in 1954 at the London office of Ove Arup and Partner, and became an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1955. In 1957, he returned to New Zealand, working initially as a self-employed architect in Wellington, and in partnership (Calder, Fowler, Styles and Turner) from 1959 to 1989. In the early 1960s, Fowler designed the Wellington Overseas Passenger Terminal, which was to have served international passenger ships, but never saw its intended use due to the rising popularity of air travel. In an interview many years later, he said that he "was party to the design of the biggest white elephant that Wellington ever built". Fowler was elected a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Architects in 1970.

Political career Fowler was first elected to the Wellington City Council in 1968 on the Citizens' ticket. Four years later he stood for the parliamentary seat of Hutt in the 1972 general election for the National Party where he came runner up to Labour's Trevor Young. Fowler was elected mayor of Wellington in 1974, in a very tight race with long-serving incumbent Sir Frank Kitts, a post that he held until he retired in 1983. Fowler's 1977 re-election campaign was against local transgender entertainer Carmen Rupe, who ran with the support of local businessman Bob Jones with the slogans "Get in behind" and "Carmen for Mayor" and a platform of gay marriage and legalised brothels (although neither of these are local-government matters in New Zealand). The main focus of his mayoralty was the redevelopment of the central city with the large scale demolition of buildings determined to be earthquake-prone. He encouraged building owners to demolish instead of earthquake strengthening them, particularly on the city's "golden mile" along Lambton Quay where half of the 187 at-risk buildings along the route (including many historic hotels) were pulled down. Another part of his modernisation agenda for the city was the construction of a new event centre. Initially, this was to be built in place of the Wellington Town Hall. However, Fowler encountered significant public opposition to demolishing the town hall which led to the town hall to be retained and the new centre being built next door and opened officially in 1983. Fowler also established council committees to regularise contact between the city and both government agencies and Wellington Harbour Board to streamline key relationships necessary for city development. Newer buildings were constructed en-masse and the city had a development craze which, in Fowler's view, enhanced the city. He was opposed by heritage lobbies over the mass demolitions but was fiercely counter-critical of those advocating building preservation, and once went as far as to describe them as "jackbooted zealots". In the lead-up to the 1984 general election, Fowler was speculated as a contender for the National Party nomination for the Wellington Central electorate. He admitted he had been invited by the party's electorate chairman to stand, but had declined to run.

Honours and awards

In 1977, Fowler was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal. In the 1981 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was appointed a Knight Bachelor, in recognition of his service as mayor of Wellington. Fowler received the New Zealand Institute of Architects' Award of Honour in 1983, and the following year he won the Alfred O. Glasse Award from the New Zealand Institute of Planning. Wellington's principal concert performance hall, the Michael Fowler Centre, opened in 1983, was named in his honour.

Controversies During the construction of Te Papa on Wellington's waterfront in the mid-1990s, Fowler was critical of the final design. His claims of similarity with Nazi architecture in the published drawings (akin to the work of Albert Speer) drew controversy. Fowler was criticised for his comments in May 2011, where he backed a controversial Wellywood sign in a handwritten letter to The Dominion Post, describing its critics as "dumb, humourless, totally irrelevant and probably Irish". When later questioned, he was unapologetic stating that his comment "wasn't meant to be derogatory." Irish residents in New Zealand expressed outrage at the comments.

Later life and death After retiring from the mayoralty he was appointed in 1983 as chairman of the Queen Elizabeth Arts Council by the then National government. The appointment caused some controversy, with allegations of cronyism coming from the opposition Labour Party given Fowler's history as a National candidate. The Fowlers later bought an orchard in Marlborough, where they lived for 12 years before returning to Wellington in 2003. Barbara, Lady Fowler, died in 2009. In the 2010 Wellington local elections, Fowler stood in the Lambton Ward for a seat on the Wellington City Council, finishing fifth of nine candidates, with the three highest-polling candidates elected. Fowler died with COVID-19 on 12 July 2022, at the age of 92.

Citations

General and cited references Betts, G. M. (1970). Betts on Wellington: A City and Its Politics. Wellington, NZ: A. H. & A. W. Reed Ltd. ISBN 0-589-00469-7. Norton, Clifford (1988). New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946–1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science. Wellington, NZ: Victoria University of Wellington. ISBN 0-475-11200-8.

External links

Michael Fowler, front left, in 1977 (photo) Michael Fowler, left, in 1979 (photo) Cartoon of Frank Kitts & Michael Fowler in 1974 Sir Michael's personal website

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Michael Fowler

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

In research: Michael Fowler appears in physics 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 Fowler 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 Fowler is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1929 births, 2022 deaths, 20th-century mayors of places in New Zealand, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Michael Fowler 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.

Affiliate

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

How to study Michael Fowler in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Michael Fowler in simple terms?

Sir Edward Michael Coulson Fowler (19 December 1929 – 12 July 2022) was a New Zealand architect and author who served as mayor of Wellington from 1974 to 1983. Early life and family Fowler was born on 19 December 1929 in Marton, the son of William Coulson Fowler and Faith Agnes Netherclift.

Why does Michael Fowler matter?

Because it connects several physics 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 Fowler?

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 Fowler.