mathematics

Rick Jardine

Rick Jardine is a mathematics 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 Rick Jardine rather than just read about it. In short: John Frederick "Rick" Jardine (born December 6, 1951, in Belleville, Canada) is a Canadian mathematician working in the fields of homotopy theory, category theory, and number theory. Biography Jardine obtained his Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia in 1981, with thesis Algebraic Homotopy written under the direction of Roy Douglas.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

John Frederick "Rick" Jardine (born December 6, 1951, in Belleville, Canada) is a Canadian mathematician working in the fields of homotopy theory, category theory, and number theory.

Biography Jardine obtained his Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia in 1981, with thesis Algebraic Homotopy written under the direction of Roy Douglas. Following a research fellowship at the University of Toronto and a Dickson instructorship at the University of Chicago, he joined the Department of Mathematics at the University of Western Ontario in 1984, where he is currently an emeritus professor. From 2002 to 2016, Jardine held a Canada Research Chair in applied homotopy theory. Since 2008, he is fellow of the Fields Institute, and has been recognized with the Coxeter–James Prize in 1992 by the Canadian Mathematical Society. In 2018 the Canadian Mathematical Society listed him in their inaugural class of fellows.

References

External links Jardine's homepage at the University of Western Ontario

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Rick Jardine

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

In research: Rick Jardine appears in mathematics 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 Rick Jardine 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: Rick Jardine is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1951 births, 20th-century Canadian mathematicians, 21st-century Canadian mathematicians, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Rick Jardine 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 Rick Jardine in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Rick Jardine in simple terms?

John Frederick "Rick" Jardine (born December 6, 1951, in Belleville, Canada) is a Canadian mathematician working in the fields of homotopy theory, category theory, and number theory. Biography Jardine obtained his Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia in 1981, with thesis Algebraic Homotopy…

Why does Rick Jardine matter?

Because it connects several mathematics 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 Rick Jardine?

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 Rick Jardine.