astronomy

Philippa Wiggins

Philippa Wiggins 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 Philippa Wiggins rather than just read about it. In short: Philippa Marion Wiggins (nee Glasgow) (16 July 1925 – 16 March 2017) was a New Zealand academic, who made significant contributions to the understanding of the structure of water in living cells. Academic career Wiggins studied science at the University of Canterbury, but although she wanted to continue in physics, women at the university were not allowed to progress past stage one.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Philippa Marion Wiggins (nee Glasgow) (16 July 1925 – 16 March 2017) was a New Zealand academic, who made significant contributions to the understanding of the structure of water in living cells.

Academic career Wiggins studied science at the University of Canterbury, but although she wanted to continue in physics, women at the university were not allowed to progress past stage one. Having switched to chemistry, Wiggins then won a scholarship to research at the Davy-Faraday Laboratory at the Royal Institution in London. She then completed a PhD at King's College London. Wiggins took time off to have a family and did not return to full-time work until the age of 48. Upon returning to New Zealand, Wiggins worked at the University of Canterbury with Walter Metcalf from 1962–1966. After this she worked at the University of Otago, and began working on water in living cells. Wiggins was awarded a Career Fellowship by the New Zealand Medical Research Council. From 1970, she continued her research in the Department of Medicine at the University of Auckland, as Professor of Membrane Physiology. In 1994 Wiggins co-founded BiostoreNZ, which commercialised preservation and storage technology for cells. BiostoreNZ was later acquired by Genesis Research and Development. Wiggins worked as a research scientist for Genesis Research in 1997, and continued to publish until 2009. She held more than 40 patents.

Wiggins died in Auckland on 16 March 2017 aged 91.

Research Wiggins realised that water can exist in two different states, and that the existence of these states explains the way that living cells work, and has implications for DNA and protein structure.

Awards Wiggins was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi in 1991. She received a medal for her research from the Health Research Council of New Zealand. In 2017 Wiggins was featured as one of the Royal Society Te Apārangi's 150 women in 150 words.

Selected works Philippa Wiggins (9 January 2008). "Life depends upon two kinds of water". PLOS One. 3 (1) e1406. Bibcode:2008PLoSO...3.1406W. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0001406. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 2170473. PMID 18183287. Wikidata Q28471895. P M Wiggins (December 1990). "Role of water in some biological processes". Microbiological Reviews. 54 (4): 432–49. ISSN 0146-0749. PMC 372788. PMID 2087221. Wikidata Q24634733. P. M. Wiggins (1 July 2001). "High and low density intracellular water". Cellular and Molecular Biology. 47 (5): 735–744. ISSN 0145-5680. PMID 11728089. Wikidata Q30666358. Wiggins PM (1 June 1996). "High and low density water and resting, active and transformed cells". Cell Biology International. 20 (6): 429–435. doi:10.1006/cbir.1996.0054. ISSN 1065-6995. PMID 8963257. Wikidata Q34063844. Norris V; Alexandre S; Bouligand Y; et al. (1 August 1999). "Hypothesis: hyperstructures regulate bacterial structure and the cell cycle". Biochimie. 81 (8–9): 915–920. doi:10.1016/s0300-9084(99)00203-5. ISSN 0300-9084. PMID 10572306. Wikidata Q33779068. P M Wiggins; B A MacClement (1 January 1987). "Two states of water found in hydrophobic clefts: their possible contribution to mechanisms of cation pumps and other enzymes". International Review of Cytology. 108: 249–303. doi:10.1016/s0074-7696(08)61440-0. ISSN 0074-7696. PMID 2959632. Wikidata Q39483322. P M Wiggins; J Rowlandson; A B Ferguson (1 February 1999). "Preservation of murine embryos in a state of dormancy at 4 degreesC". American Journal of Physiology. 276 (2): C291-9. doi:10.1152/ajpcell.1999.276.2.c291. ISSN 0002-9513. PMID 9950755. Wikidata Q78020067. P. M. Wiggins (1 November 1965). "A kinetic study of the state of potassium in kidney tissue". Biochimica et Biophysica Acta. 109 (2): 454–466. doi:10.1016/0926-6585(65)90171-8. ISSN 0006-3002. PMID 5867547. Wikidata Q72659583. V. A. Knight; P. M. Wiggins; J. D. Harvey; J. A. O'Brien (1 August 1981). "The relationship between the size of mitochondria and the intensity of light that they scatter in different energetic states". Biochimica et Biophysica Acta. 637 (1): 146–151. doi:10.1016/0005-2728(81)90220-6. ISSN 0006-3002. PMID 7284354. Wikidata Q47279640.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Philippa Wiggins

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Philippa Wiggins 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 Philippa Wiggins 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 Philippa Wiggins 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 Philippa Wiggins

In research: Philippa Wiggins 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 Philippa Wiggins 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: Philippa Wiggins is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1925 births, 2017 deaths, Academic staff of the University of Auckland, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Philippa Wiggins 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 Philippa Wiggins in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Philippa Wiggins in simple terms?

Philippa Marion Wiggins (nee Glasgow) (16 July 1925 – 16 March 2017) was a New Zealand academic, who made significant contributions to the understanding of the structure of water in living cells. Academic career Wiggins studied science at the University of Canterbury, but although she wanted to con…

Why does Philippa Wiggins 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 Philippa Wiggins?

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 Philippa Wiggins.