astronomy

Nigel R. Franks

Nigel R. Franks 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 Nigel R. Franks rather than just read about it. In short: Nigel R. Franks (born 21 August 1956) is an English emeritus professor of Animal Behaviour and Ecology at the University of Bristol, a renowned specialist in studies of collective animal behavior, especially of ant colonies.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Nigel R. Franks (born 21 August 1956) is an English emeritus professor of Animal Behaviour and Ecology at the University of Bristol, a renowned specialist in studies of collective animal behavior, especially of ant colonies.

Career He obtained a BSc and PhD in biology at the University of Leeds. After receiving his BSc in 1977 he began his PhD, during which he spent two years doing field work in Panama on army ants with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. He was awarded the Thomas Henry Huxley Award in 1980 from the Zoological Society of London for the best British PhD in Zoology. He then received a Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Royal Commission for the Great Exhibition of 1851 allowing him to undertake postdoctoral work under Edward O. Wilson at Harvard University before becoming a lecturer at the University of Bath in 1982, later being promoted to full professor in 1995. He moved to the University of Bristol in 2001. Franks is renowned for his studies of collective animal behaviour, particularly of ant colonies. His Ant Lab at Bristol pioneered the use of Temnothorax (Temnothorax albipennis) as a model ant species for the study of collective decision-making and complex systems. In a 2009 profile in Science he discusses his pioneering use of radio-frequency identification tags (RFID) glued to the backs of each ant for tracking individuals in their society. His book Social evolution in ants with Andrew Bourke was an important contribution to the understanding of kin selection theory and sex ratio theory with respect to social evolution in insects, while his co-authored book Self-organization in biological systems has been cited well over 3000 times Temnothorax albipennis ants have been observed teaching each other through a process known as tandem running. An experienced forager leads a naive nest-mate to a newly discovered resource such as food or an empty nest site. The follower obtains knowledge of the route by following in the footsteps of the tutor, maintaining contact with its antennae. Both leader and follower are aware of the progress made by the other with the leader slowing when the follower lags and speeding up when the follower gets too close. Depending on how far away a new resource is, colonies will modulate the number of tandem runs that they perform, with a greater number of tandem runs occurring when the desired resource is more distant. Furthermore, the relative contribution that workers make to this process differs widely among individuals, with certain ants attempting many more tandem runs than others.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Nigel R. Franks

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Nigel R. Franks 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 Nigel R. Franks 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 Nigel R. Franks 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 Nigel R. Franks

In research: Nigel R. Franks 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 Nigel R. Franks 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: Nigel R. Franks is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1956 births, Academics of the University of Bath, Academics of the University of Bristol, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Nigel R. Franks 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 Nigel R. Franks in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Nigel R. Franks in simple terms?

Why does Nigel R. Franks 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 Nigel R. Franks?

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 Nigel R. Franks.