astronomy

Phillip A. Maxwell

Phillip A. Maxwell 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 Phillip A. Maxwell rather than just read about it. In short: Phillip Alan Maxwell (5 April 1940 – 5 February 2007), was a New Zealand palaeontologist and malacologist, who became known as an expert on early to middle Cenozoic mollusca during the latter 20th century. Early life Maxwell was born in Christchurch, attending Christ's College on a scholarship, later studying chemistry at Canterbury University.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Early life Maxwell was born in Christchurch, attending Christ's College on a scholarship, later studying chemistry at Canterbury University. While completing his degree, Maxwell was inspired to study geology and paleontology after a field trip to Westland, winning the Sir Julius von Haast Prize for BSc (Hons) in Geology. For his Master of Science, Maxwell mapped the geology of the Kaiwara Valley of North Canterbury, and for his PhD focused on studying cenozoic mollusca, especially the Eocene molluscs found at the Waihao River in South Canterbury, which won Maxwell the McKay Hammer Award of the Geological Society of New Zealand.

Career After completing his master's degree, Maxwell began working for the New Zealand Geological Survey in Lower Hutt. Major publications of Maxwell's included his research into late Miocene mollusca of Stillwater Mudstone at Greymouth, and a major overview of New Zealand Cenozoic molluscan fauna in 1990, Cenozoic Mollusca of New Zealand, which won a DSIR Ministerial Award for Excellence in Scientific Research. A major work by Maxwell covering Eocene molluscs of the Waihaorunga Valley, covering more than 350 species, remains unpublished. Maxwell moved to Waimate in 1990, and became a contract curator for Canterbury Museum. While Maxwell primarily focused on molluscs, his fieldwork led to discoveries outside of his field, including an archaeoceti skull Maxwell uncovered, and the holotype of Kaiika maxwelli, also known as Maxwell's penguin, which he discovered near the Waihao River in November 1998. A significant amount of Maxwell's mollusc collection is held in the collections of Te Papa.

Personal life Maxwell had four children together with his wife Sue. Maxwell's hobbies included folk music, succulents, stamp collecting and construction using Meccano.

Taxa identified by Maxwell

Gemmocolus P. A. Maxwell, 1992 Glyphea christeyi Feldmann & Maxwell, 1999 Itiscala P. A. Maxwell, 1992 Maoraxidae Bandel, Gründel & Maxwell, 2000 Pileolidae Bandel, Gründel & Maxwell, 2000 Sphaerocinidae Janssen & Maxwell, 1995 Spinoseila P. A. Maxwell, 1992 Tahuia P. A. Maxwell, 1992 Zeatoma P. A. Maxwell, 1992

Selected works

Beu, A.G.; Maxwell, P.A. (1968). "Molluscan evidence for Tertiary sea temperatures in New Zealand: a reconsideration". Tuatara. 16: 69–74. Maxwell, P.A. "Middle Tertiary Mollusca from North Otago and South Canterbury, New Zealand, with a review of New Zealand species of Venericardia (Carditidae, Pelecypoda)". Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand Geology. 6: 155–185. Maxwell, Phillip A. (January 1978). "Taxonomic and nomenclatural notes on some New Zealand Cenozoic Mollusca, with descriptions of new taxa". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 5 (1): 15–46. doi:10.1080/03014223.1978.10423743. ISSN 0301-4223. Wikidata Q99647734. Beu, A.G.; Maxwell, P.A. (1987). "A revision of the fossil and living gastropods related to Plesiotriton Fischer, 1884 (family Cancellariidae, subfamily Plesiotritoninae n. subfam.) with an appendix: Genera of Buccinidae Pisaniinae related to Colubraria Schumacher, 1817". New Zealand Geological Survey Paleontological Bulletin. 54: 1–140. Maxwell, Phillip A. (1988), Late Miocene deep-water mollusca from the stillwater mudstone at Greymouth, Westland, New Zealand: palaeoecology and systematics, Palaeontological Bulletin, LCCN 90118499, OCLC 21301858, Wikidata Q136815259 Campbell, H. J.; Andrews, P. B.; Beu, A. G.; Edwards, A. W.; Hornibrook, NdeB; Laird, MG; Maxwell, P.A.; Mildenhall, D.C.; Watters, W.A. "Cretaceous–Cenozoic lithostratigraphy of the Chatham Islands, New Zealand". Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 18: 285–308. Wood, RA; Andrews, P.B.; Herzer, R.H.; Cook, R.A.; Hornibrook, NdeB; Hoskins, R.H.; Beu, A. G.; Maxwell, P.A.; Keyes, I.W.; Raine, J.I.; Mildenhall, D.C.; Wilson, G.J.; Smale, D; Soong, R; Watters, WA (1989). "Cretaceous and Cenozoic geology of the Chatham Rise region, South Island, New Zealand". New Zealand Geological Survey Basin Studies. 3: 1–75. Beu, A.G.; Maxwell, P.A. (1990). "Cenozoic Mollusca of New Zealand". New Zealand Geological Survey Paleontological Bulletin. 58: 1–518. Feldmann, RM; Maxwell, PA (1990). "Late Eocene decapod Crustacea from North Westland, South Island, New Zealand". Journal of Paleontology. 64: 779–797. Maxwell, P.A. (1992). "Eocene Mollusca from the vicinity of McCulloch's Bridge, Waihao River, South Canterbury, New Zealand: paleoecology and systematics". New Zealand Geological Survey Paleontological Bulletin. 65: 1–280. Beu, A.G.; Griffin, M; Maxwell, P.A. (1997). "Opening of Drake Passage gateway and Late Miocene to Pleistocene cooling reflected in Southern Ocean molluscan dispersal: evidence from New Zealand and Argentina". Tectonophysics. 281: 83–97. Bandel, K.; Gründel, J.; Maxwell, P.A. (2000). "Gastropods from the upper Early Jurassic/early Middle Jurassic of Kaiwara Valley, North Canterbury, New Zealand". Paläontologie Stratigraphie Fazies 8; Freiberger Forschungshefte. C490: 67–132. Crampton, James S.; Beu, Alan G.; Cooper, Roger A.; Jones, Craig M.; Marshall, Bruce; Maxwell, Phillip A. (12 June 2003). "Estimating the rock volume bias in paleobiodiversity studies". Science. 301 (5631): 358–360. doi:10.1126/science.1085075. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 12805555. Wikidata Q31146176. Cooper, Roger A.; Maxwell, Phillip A.; Crampton, James S.; Beu, Alan G.; Jones, Craig M.; Marshall, Bruce A. (2006). "Completeness of the fossil record: Estimating losses due to small body size". Geology. 34 (4): 241. Bibcode:2006Geo....34..241C. doi:10.1130/g22206.1. ISSN 0091-7613. Wikidata Q58457451. Maxwell, P.A. (2009). "Cenozoic Mollusca". In Gordon, D.P. (ed.). New Zealand Inventory of Biodiversity. Volume one. Kingdom Animalia: Radiata, Lophotrochozoa, Deuterostomia. Christchurch: Canterbury University Press. pp. 232–254. ISBN 978-1-877257-72-8.

References

External links Maxwell's malacological collections at Te Papa

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Phillip A. Maxwell

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Phillip A. Maxwell 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 Phillip A. Maxwell 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 Phillip A. Maxwell 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 Phillip A. Maxwell

In research: Phillip A. Maxwell 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 Phillip A. Maxwell 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: Phillip A. Maxwell is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1940 births, 2007 deaths, New Zealand geologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Phillip A. Maxwell 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 Phillip A. Maxwell in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Phillip A. Maxwell in simple terms?

Phillip Alan Maxwell (5 April 1940 – 5 February 2007), was a New Zealand palaeontologist and malacologist, who became known as an expert on early to middle Cenozoic mollusca during the latter 20th century. Early life Maxwell was born in Christchurch, attending Christ's College on a scholarship, lat…

Why does Phillip A. Maxwell 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 Phillip A. Maxwell?

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 Phillip A. Maxwell.