science

Richard Hawksworth Barnes

Richard Hawksworth Barnes is a science 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 Richard Hawksworth Barnes rather than just read about it. In short: Richard Hawksworth Barnes FLS (1831–1904) was a British meteorologist and naturalist, who spent time working as a coffee grower in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), where he collected specimens for the British Museum. The snake species Boiga barnesii is named in his honour.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Richard Hawksworth Barnes FLS (1831–1904) was a British meteorologist and naturalist, who spent time working as a coffee grower in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), where he collected specimens for the British Museum. The snake species Boiga barnesii is named in his honour.

Early life Barnes was born in 1831 in Colombo, Ceylon, the youngest son of Maria, née Fawkes, daughter of Walter Fawkes, and her husband, the then Governor of Ceylon, Edward Barnes. He spent many of his early years at the Fawkes' family seat, Farnley Hall, near Otley, Yorkshire. He was subsequently educated at Eton College and studied mathematics at Trinity College, Cambridge, taking the Mathematical Tripos and becoming 38th Wrangler (i.e. obtaining first class honours) in 1853.

Career In 1852, Barnes obtained a position as a "coffee planter" in Ceylon, where West-Indian style coffee cultivation had been introduced by his father in 1824. While there, he carried out the study of meteorology, botany and herpetology. He was elected a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London in April 1863. The Times noted:

In 1865 he was able to warn the Madras observatory by telegram that a severe cyclone would reach their coasts in three days, by which means all vessels there were enabled to reach safe waters, and many lives were saved.

He collected specimens for the British Museum (these are now in the Natural History Museum, London). Among the specimens he collected were the types of two species of snake, Dendrelaphis caudolineolatus (originally Dendrophis caudolineolata) and Boiga barnesii (also known as Barnes' cat snake). They were described, and the latter named (as Dipsas barnesii) in Barnes' honour, by Albert Günther in 1869.

Personal life and death On 29 November 1866 Barnes married Cecilia Freckleton (née Waring), a widow, becoming step-father to her daughter Alice Marie Freckleton. At that time his address was given as "Gannoruwa estate, Peradeniya". He returned to England in 1867 when his address was given as "40 Kensington Park Gardens, London W.". He later lived at Parkstone, Dorset, from where he contributed regular meteorological readings to his local newspaper, the Parkstone Reminder.

Barnes died at his home, Heatherland House, in Parkstone, on 27 February 1904, aged 73. Obituaries were published in The Times, Tropical Agriculturist, the Parkstone Reminder, and a number of other regional newspapers. He was buried at St Petert Peter's Church, the parish church of Parkstone. He was survived by Cecilia.

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References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Richard Hawksworth Barnes

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Richard Hawksworth Barnes claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, 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 Richard Hawksworth Barnes 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 Richard Hawksworth Barnes 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 Richard Hawksworth Barnes

In research: Richard Hawksworth Barnes appears in science 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 Richard Hawksworth Barnes 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: Richard Hawksworth Barnes is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1831 births, 1904 deaths, 19th-century British botanists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Richard Hawksworth Barnes 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 Richard Hawksworth Barnes in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Richard Hawksworth Barnes in simple terms?

Why does Richard Hawksworth Barnes matter?

Because it connects several science 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 Richard Hawksworth Barnes?

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 Richard Hawksworth Barnes.