biology

Richard Perham

Richard Perham is a biology 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 Perham rather than just read about it. In short: Richard Nelson Perham (27 April 1937 – 14 February 2015), was Professor of biochemistry at the University of Cambridge, and Master of St John's College, Cambridge 2004–07. He was also editor-in-chief of FEBS Journal (Federation of European Biochemical Societies) from 1998 to 2013.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Richard Nelson Perham (27 April 1937 – 14 February 2015), was Professor of biochemistry at the University of Cambridge, and Master of St John's College, Cambridge 2004–07. He was also editor-in-chief of FEBS Journal (Federation of European Biochemical Societies) from 1998 to 2013.

Education Perham attended Latymer Upper School, then St John's College, Cambridge, where he completed his MA (Cantab), PhD and ScD. Perham then went on to become a MRC scholar at Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB), also at Cambridge.

Research and career Perham was known for his contributions to the chemistry of proteins in multimeric assemblies.

Societies Perham was a member of the following organisations and societies:

1965 Biochemical Society member 1983 EMBO Member 1986 Royal Institution for Great Britain member 1992 Academia Europaea member

Awards and fellowships His awards include:

1971 (EMBO) fellowship Max Planck Institute for Medical Research (Max-Planck-Institut für Medizinische Forschung), Heidelberg 1984 Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) 1988 Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) 1993 Max Planck Research Prize 1998 Novartis Medal and Prize of the Biochemical Society 2000 Silver Medal of the Italian Biochemical Society 2005 Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci) 2008 Edman Prize International Association of Protein Structure and Proteomics (IAPSAP) 2011 Diplôme d'Honneur of the Federation of European Biochemical Societies

Selected bibliography Perham, Richard N (1975). Instrumentation in amino acid sequence analysis. London New York: Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-12-551250-3. Perham, Richard N; Chapman, Stephen; Scrutton, Nigel (2002). Flavins and flavoproteins 2002: proceedings of the Fourteenth International Symposium, St. John's College, University of Cambridge, UK, July 14–18, 2002. Berlin: Rudolf Weber, Agency for Scientific Publications. ISBN 978-3-00-010229-5. Perham, Richard N; Baumeister, Wolfgang; Johnson, Louise; Steven, Alasdair (1975). Instrumentation in amino acid sequence analysis. London New York: Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-12-551250-3.

Personal life Perham was married to Canadian cell biologist Nancy Lane Perham, and they had two children together.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Richard Perham

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

In research: Richard Perham appears in biology 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 Perham 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 Perham is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1937 births, 2015 deaths, Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Richard Perham 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.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Richard Perham in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Richard Perham in simple terms?

Why does Richard Perham matter?

Because it connects several biology 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 Perham?

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 Perham.