astronomy

Michael M. Thackeray

Michael M. Thackeray 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 M. Thackeray rather than just read about it. In short: Michael Makepeace Thackeray (born in 1949) is a South African chemist and battery materials researcher. He is mainly known for his work on electrochemically active cathode materials.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Michael Makepeace Thackeray (born in 1949) is a South African chemist and battery materials researcher. He is mainly known for his work on electrochemically active cathode materials. In the mid-1980s he co-discovered the manganese oxide spinel family of cathodes for lithium ion batteries while working in the lab of John Goodenough at the University of Oxford. In 1998, while at Argonne National Laboratory, he led a team that first reported the NMC cathode technology. Patent protection around the concept and materials were first issued in 2005 to Argonne National Laboratory to a team with Thackeray, Khalil Amine, Jaekook Kim, and Christopher Johnson. The reported invention is now widely used in consumer electronics and electric vehicles.

Career Thackeray obtained his M.Sc and Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. After University, he worked for the CSIR of South Africa from 1973 to 1977 as a researcher in the National Physical Research Laboratory in Pretoria. From 1981-82, as well as in 1985, he worked with John Goodenough at the University of Oxford. In 1983 Thackeray returned to CSIR as Group Leader of the Ceramics Division and in 1988 was named a Research Manager in the Battery Technology Unit. In 1994, Thackeray moved to the Chemical Technology Division at Argonne National Laboratory in the United States, where he was named Group Leader of the Battery Materials Group within the Electrochemical Energy Storage Department. He was the founding director of the Center for Electrochemical Energy Science (CEES), a Department of Energy Energy Frontier Research Center, where he oversaw research to understand lithium-air storage chemistry, polymerized cathode coatings, and cathode surface stability. He retired in 2019. Thackeray has co-authored more than 200 publications, and he holds more than 60 patents. He was elected Fellow of The Electrochemical Society in 2014 and Fellow of the Royal Society in 2022. He received the Electrochemical Society Battery Division Research Award in 2005, the Yeager Award of International Battery Association in 2011 and the International Battery Association Medal of Excellence in 2019.

References

External links "Michael M. Thackeray". Argonne National Laboratory. 11 April 2024. Retrieved 28 August 2025.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Michael M. Thackeray

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Michael M. Thackeray 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 M. Thackeray 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 M. Thackeray 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 M. Thackeray

In research: Michael M. Thackeray 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 M. Thackeray 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 M. Thackeray is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1949 births, Academics of the University of Oxford, Argonne National Laboratory people, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Michael M. Thackeray 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 M. Thackeray in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Michael M. Thackeray in simple terms?

Michael Makepeace Thackeray (born in 1949) is a South African chemist and battery materials researcher. He is mainly known for his work on electrochemically active cathode materials.

Why does Michael M. Thackeray 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 M. Thackeray?

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 M. Thackeray.