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Sidney Irving Smith

Sidney Irving Smith is a engineering 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 Sidney Irving Smith rather than just read about it. In short: Sidney Irving Smith (February 18, 1843, in Norway, Maine – May 6, 1926, in New Haven, Connecticut) was an American zoologist. Private life Sidney Smith was the son of Elliot Smith and Lavinia Barton.

Sidney Irving Smith — main illustration
Sidney Irving Smith — illustration

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Sidney Irving Smith (February 18, 1843, in Norway, Maine – May 6, 1926, in New Haven, Connecticut) was an American zoologist.

Private life Sidney Smith was the son of Elliot Smith and Lavinia Barton. His brother in law was Addison Emery Verrill. Smith married Eugenia Pocahontas Barber in New Haven, Connecticut, on June 29, 1882. The couple had no children, and Eugenia died on March 14, 1916. Smith suffered from hereditary glaucoma, rendering him partially sighted from 1906, and completely blind some years before his death. He died on May 6, 1926, of throat cancer.

Education and career In his youth, Sidney Irving Smith became expert on the fauna around his home town, and an expert at making collections, particularly of insects. He studied at the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University, and received his Ph.B. in 1867. Yale University conferred upon him the honorary degree of M.A. in 1887. He stayed on at Yale, initially as an assistant, but from 1875 as the first professor of comparative anatomy, a post he retained until his retirement in 1906. Thereafter, Smith remained at Yale as professor emeritus. Having begun as an entomologist (being State Entomologist of Maine and Connecticut for a number of years), Smith changed relatively early in his career to the study of crustaceans, probably because of his work with the United States Fish Commission. He participated in many field excursions, sometimes in collaboration with Verrill or with Louis Agassiz. Smith was the chief zoologist during the dredging of Lake Superior carried out by the United States Lake Survey in 1871, and the dredging in the region of St. George's Banks in 1872 carried out by the United States Coast Survey. In 1884, Smith was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

Legacy Smith produced more than 70 original papers. His collections are now housed in the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale and at the National Museum of Natural History. Sidney Irving Smith was honoured in the specific epithets of a number of species. They include Lembos smithi Holmes, 1905, Metapenaeopsis smithi (Schmitt, 1924), Oxyurostylis smithi Calman, 1912, Pandarus smithi Rathbun, 1886 and Siphonoecetes smithianus Rathbun, 1908. Taxa named by Sidney Irving Smith include:

References Data related to Sidney Irving Smith at Wikispecies

Illustrations

Sidney Irving Smith illustration

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Sidney Irving Smith

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Sidney Irving Smith claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, 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 Sidney Irving Smith 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 Sidney Irving Smith 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 Sidney Irving Smith

In research
Sidney Irving Smith appears in engineering 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 Sidney Irving Smith 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
Sidney Irving Smith is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1843 births, 1926 deaths, 19th-century American zoologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life
Look for Sidney Irving Smith 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 Sidney Irving Smith in 20 minutes

  1. Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
  2. Close the page and write down what Sidney Irving Smith means in your own words.
  3. Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
  4. Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
  5. Explain Sidney Irving Smith out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Sidney Irving Smith in simple terms?

Sidney Irving Smith (February 18, 1843, in Norway, Maine – May 6, 1926, in New Haven, Connecticut) was an American zoologist. Private life Sidney Smith was the son of Elliot Smith and Lavinia Barton.

Why does Sidney Irving Smith matter?

Because it connects several engineering 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 Sidney Irving Smith?

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 Sidney Irving Smith.

Tags

  • 1843 births
  • 1926 deaths
  • 19th-century American zoologists
  • 20th-century American zoologists
  • American carcinologists
  • American entomologists
  • American taxonomists
  • Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
  • People from Norway, Maine
  • Scientists from New Haven, Connecticut
  • United States Fish Commission personnel
  • Yale School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni

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