astronomy

Miers Longstreth

Miers Longstreth 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 Miers Longstreth rather than just read about it. In short: Miers Fisher Longstreth (March 15, 1819 – December 27, 1891) was an American merchant, physician, and astronomer, best known as a founding member of the National Academy of Sciences. Longstreth was born in Philadelphia and received his secondary education at Clermont Academy (graduating 1833), then M.L.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Miers Fisher Longstreth (March 15, 1819 – December 27, 1891) was an American merchant, physician, and astronomer, best known as a founding member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Longstreth was born in Philadelphia and received his secondary education at Clermont Academy (graduating 1833), then M.L. Hurlburt's Classical Academy. He left school to work in a hardware store, becoming a full member of the firm in 1840. As early as 1837, however, he was attending lectures at the College of Pharmacy of the University of Pennsylvania. In 1856 he completed a medical degree at the university's Medical Department. By happenstance, a new Friends School was established next to his and his wife's home. The school had an astronomical observatory, which Dr. Longstreth was invited to use. He soon came to own a 5-inch aperture telescope, a transit instrument, and an astronomical clock. With these instruments, he discovered a discrepancy in the then-accepted formulas for the position of the Moon and improved upon them as "Longstreth's Lunar Formula", so-named by Benjamin Peirce and put to immediate use in the American Nautical Almanac. Longstreth was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1848, and was a founding member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1863. Throughout his life he was a devoted member of the Society of Friends.

References

Illustrations

Miers Longstreth: Miers Fisher Longstreth (1819-1891) — Miers Fisher Longstreth (1819-1891)

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Miers Longstreth

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Miers Longstreth 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 Miers Longstreth 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 Miers Longstreth 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 Miers Longstreth

In research: Miers Longstreth 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 Miers Longstreth 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: Miers Longstreth is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1819 births, 1891 deaths, 19th-century American astronomers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Miers Longstreth 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 Miers Longstreth in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Miers Longstreth in simple terms?

Miers Fisher Longstreth (March 15, 1819 – December 27, 1891) was an American merchant, physician, and astronomer, best known as a founding member of the National Academy of Sciences. Longstreth was born in Philadelphia and received his secondary education at Clermont Academy (graduating 1833), then…

Why does Miers Longstreth 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 Miers Longstreth?

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 Miers Longstreth.