astronomy

Michael John Wise

Michael John Wise 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 John Wise rather than just read about it. In short: Michael John Wise CBE, MC (17 August 1918 – 13 October 2015) was a British academic who served as a professor of geography at the University of London. Early life Michael Wise was born in Stafford in 1918.

Key takeaways

Michael John Wise 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 John Wise to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Michael John Wise from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Michael John Wise CBE, MC (17 August 1918 – 13 October 2015) was a British academic who served as a professor of geography at the University of London.

Early life Michael Wise was born in Stafford in 1918. He was the son of Harry Cuthbert Wise and Sarah Evelyn Wise.

Education After attending Saltley Secondary School, Birmingham, he attended the University of Birmingham where he completed his BA in Geography in 1939. After his service in World War II, he returned to Birmingham as an assistant lecturer and lecturer, gaining a PhD in 1951. It was at this point that he met Gordon Warwick, a fellow assistant lecturer, who became a lifelong friend, with Wise being godfather to the latter's daughter. They later collaborated on the British Association Handbook for the Birmingham meeting.

War service During the Second World War, Wise served in the British Army in Europe and the Middle East, reaching the rank of Major in 1944. He was awarded the Military Cross.

Career On completion of his PhD in 1951, Wise moved to the London School of Economics as lecturer, becoming Sir Ernest Cassel Reader in Economic geography in 1954 and Professor in 1958. During the student disturbances of 1968, he defended the treasures of the LSE Map Room and negotiated their exemption from occupation during a sit-in. Wise served as member, president, etc. of many learned societies including the British Association for the Advancement of Science, the Transport Studies Society, International Geographical Union, Geographical Association, and Royal Geographical Society. He died on 13 October 2015 at the age of 97.

Honours Wise received the RGS Gill Memorial award (1958) and Founder's Medal (1977) and also the Alexander Körōsi Csoma Medal of the Hungarian Geographical Society (1980), the Tokyo Geographical Society Medal (1981) and the Lauréat d’Honneur of the IGU (1984). He received the CBE in 1979. The University of Birmingham awarded him an honorary DSc in 1982. In 2008 his 90th birthday was marked by a gathering of colleagues and former students at [LSE].

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Michael John Wise

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Michael John Wise 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 John Wise 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 John Wise 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 John Wise

In research: Michael John Wise 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 John Wise 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 John Wise is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1918 births, 2015 deaths, Academics of the London School of Economics, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Michael John Wise 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 John Wise in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Michael John Wise in simple terms?

Michael John Wise CBE, MC (17 August 1918 – 13 October 2015) was a British academic who served as a professor of geography at the University of London. Early life Michael Wise was born in Stafford in 1918.

Why does Michael John Wise 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 John Wise?

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 John Wise.