Stephen G. Haw

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Stephen G. Haw (born 1951) is a botanical taxonomist and historian, specializing in subjects relating to China. He is the author of several published books and a large number of periodical articles. His most important work relates to the taxonomy of Tree Peonies and to the history of the Mongol Empire period in East Asia. He has made a major contribution to studies of Marco Polo's account of East Asia: according to Peter Jackson, an authority on the history of the Mongol conquests, his book about Marco Polo "must surely now have settled the controversy surrounding the historicity of Polo's visit to China." He studied Chinese at the University of Oxford (Wadham College), and took an M.A. at the University of London. He also studied at the University of Shandong in China. His first book, The Lilies of China, was published in 1986. He subsequently authored China: A Cultural History (1991), A Traveller’s History of China (first edition 1995; several subsequent editions), Broadleaved Evergreens (2001), Marco Polo's China (2006), and Beijing – A Concise History (2007). Of these, A Traveller’s History of China has been published in translations into Finnish, Swedish and Portuguese. One reviewer wrote of this book that it "is not the perfect solution to the problem of a single source for the prospective China tourist, but it is by far the best attempt at such a book I have yet seen." His articles have appeared in many different periodicals, including the Royal Horticultural Society's publications The Garden and The Plantsman, Hortus, Country Life, The Edinburgh Journal of Botany, and Acta Phytotaxonomica Sinica. During the last few years, several important articles relating to the history of the Mongols in China have appeared in academic journals including the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, East Asian History, the Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, and the Journal of Asian History.

Publications

Books The Lilies of China, Batsford, 1986 China: a cultural history, Batsford, 1990 A Traveller's History of China, Windrush Press, 1995; 2nd edition, 1998; 3rd edition, Orion Books, 2002; 4th edition, 2004; published in the USA by Interlink Books, now in 5th edition; translated into Finnish as Matkaopas historiaan: Kiina; Puijo, 1996; 2nd edition, Unipress, 2005; translated into Swedish as Historisk guide till Kina; Historiska Media, 1999; translated into Portuguese as História da China; Tinta-da-China, 2008. A Traveller's History of China at Interlink Books Broad-leaved Evergreens: trees, shrubs and climbers, GMC Publications, 2000 Marco Polo’s China: a Venetian in the realm of Khubilai Khan, Routledge, 2006; paperback edition, 2009. Marco Polo's China at Routledge Beijing – a concise history, Routledge, 2007; paperback edition, 2008. Beijing - a concise history at Routledge

Contributions to other books By Pen and by Spade, edited by D. Wheeler, Alan Sutton, 1990 The Generous Garden, edited by D. Wheeler, Alan Sutton, 1991 Plant Life, edited by D. M. Moore, Oxford University Press, 1991

Selected periodical articles Mudan: the king of flowers. The Garden 110: 154 – 59, (1985). Pasque flowers. The Garden 111, 165 – 68 (1986). A problem of peonies. The Garden 111: 326 – 68 (1986). The origins of the garden chrysanthemum. The Garden 111, 525 – 28 (1986). Chinese flowering plums and cherries. The Garden 112, 224 – 78 (1987). Asian Bellflowers. The Garden 112, 567 – 69 (1987). Bamboo comes west. The Garden 113, 557 – 61 (1988). A thousand petals. Country Life May 17, 1990: 188 –89 (1990). A review of the infraspecific taxa of Paeonia suffruticosa Andrews. Edinburgh Journal of Botany 47 (3): 273 – 81 (1990) [co-authored with L. A. Lauener]. Tree Peonies: A Problem Resolved. The Plantsman 13: 94 – 97 (1991). Paeonia ostii in Britain. The New Plantsman 7: 160 – 63 (2000). Tree Peonies, a Review of their History and Taxonomy. The New Plantsman 8: 156 - 71 (2001). Paeonia delavayi, a variable species. The New Plantsman 8: 251 – 53 (2001). Tree peonies - a review of recent literature. The Plantsman New Series 5: 88 – 92; 258 – 60 (2006). The Mongol Empire – the first gunpowder empire? Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 23.3: 441 – 469 (2013). Cathayan Arrows and Meteors: The Origins of Chinese Rocketry. Journal of Chinese Military History 2: 28 – 42 (2013). The Deaths of Two Khaghans: a comparison of events in 1242 and 1260. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 76.3: 361 – 71 (2013). Bayan of the Bārin’s Persian Wife, And Other Perplexities. Journal of Asian History, 48.2: 263 – 79 (2014). The Mongol Conquest of Tibet. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 24.1: 37 – 49 (2014). The Persian Language in Yuan-dynasty China: A Reappraisal. East Asian History 39: 5 – 32 (2014). The History of a Loyal Heart (Xin shi): a late-Ming forgery. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 25.2: 317 - 325 (2015). The Semu ren in the Yuan Empire. Ming Qing Yanjiu 18: 39 - 63 (2014). The Maritime Routes between China and the Indian Ocean during the second to ninth centuries CE. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 27.1: 53 - 81 (2017). Cinnamon, Cassia and Ancient Trade. Journal of Ancient History and Archaeology 4.1: 5 - 18 (2017). Tung Oil and Tong Trees. Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft 167.1: 215 - 236 (2017). Islam in Champa and the Making of Factitious History. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 28.4: 717 - 747 (2018). The Mystery of Jasmine and the Arab Counting-House in Canton. Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft 168.2: 415 - 436 (2018).

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Stephen G. Haw

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Stephen G. Haw 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 Stephen G. Haw 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 Stephen G. Haw 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 Stephen G. Haw

In research: Stephen G. Haw 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 Stephen G. Haw 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: Stephen G. Haw is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1951 births, English botanists, English historians, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Stephen G. Haw 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.

How to study Stephen G. Haw in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Stephen G. Haw in simple terms?

Stephen G. Haw (born 1951) is a botanical taxonomist and historian, specializing in subjects relating to China.

Why does Stephen G. Haw 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 Stephen G. Haw?

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 Stephen G. Haw.