astronomy

Rajan Hoole

Rajan Hoole 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 Rajan Hoole rather than just read about it. In short: Michael Richard Ratnarajan Hoole (commonly known as Rajan Hoole) is a Sri Lankan Tamil mathematician, academic and human rights activist. He was one of the founders of University Teachers for Human Rights (UTHR) which documented human rights abuses during the Sri Lankan Civil War.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Michael Richard Ratnarajan Hoole (commonly known as Rajan Hoole) is a Sri Lankan Tamil mathematician, academic and human rights activist. He was one of the founders of University Teachers for Human Rights (UTHR) which documented human rights abuses during the Sri Lankan Civil War.

Early life and family Hoole is the son of eldest son of Rev. Richard Herbert Ratnathurai Hoole and Jeevamany Somasundaram. He was educated at Chundikuli Girls' College, St. John's College, Jaffna and S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia. After school he joined the University of Ceylon. In 1982 he received a Ph.D in mathematical logic from the University of Oxford. Hoole is married to Kirupa (Kirubai) Selvadurai, a fellow academic from the University of Jaffna. He is the brother of Ratnajeevan Hoole.

Career Hoole worked as a lecturer in the Department of Mathematics at the National University of Singapore. Hoole was amongst three hundred academics who, in 1988, formed the University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna) to document and report the increasing number of human rights violations in Sri Lanka's civil war. Following the assassination of Rajini Thiranagama, one of the founders of UTHR(J), in 1989, many members of UTHR(J) left the organisation. Hoole, along with fellow UTHR(J) member Kopalasingham Sritharan, left Jaffna and went into hiding but they continued with their UTHR(J) work, documenting atrocities committed by all sides of the civil war. Hoole and Sritharan were finalists for the 2005 Civil Courage Prize but ultimately won "Certificates of Distinction in Civil Courage" and a $1,000 cash prize. In 2007 Hoole and Sritharan received the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders. Hoole is currently a senior lecturer at the University of Jaffna's Department of Mathematics and Statistics. He was trained as a classical pianist.

Works The Broken Palmyra: The Tamil Crisis in Sri Lanka - an Inside Account (1988, UHarvey Mudd College California) (co-author) Sri Lanka: the Arrogance of Power : Myths, Decadence and Murder (2001, University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna))

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Rajan Hoole

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Rajan Hoole 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 Rajan Hoole 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 Rajan Hoole 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 Rajan Hoole

In research: Rajan Hoole 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 Rajan Hoole 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: Rajan Hoole is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Academic staff of the National University of Singapore, Academic staff of the University of Jaffna, Alumni of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Rajan Hoole 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 Rajan Hoole in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Rajan Hoole in simple terms?

Why does Rajan Hoole 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 Rajan Hoole?

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 Rajan Hoole.