science

The Phalanx

The Phalanx 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 The Phalanx rather than just read about it. In short: The Phalanx; or Journal of Social Science was a Fourierist journal published in New York City, edited by Albert Brisbane and Osborne Macdaniel from 1843 to 1845. The Phalanx was eventually moved, along with another publication called The Social Reformer to Brook Farm in West Roxbury, Massachusetts.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

The Phalanx; or Journal of Social Science was a Fourierist journal published in New York City, edited by Albert Brisbane and Osborne Macdaniel from 1843 to 1845. The Phalanx was eventually moved, along with another publication called The Social Reformer to Brook Farm in West Roxbury, Massachusetts. They became one journal called The Harbinger; its first issue was published on June 14, 1845. Its first issue under this title announced its mission:

The interests of Social Reform will be paramount to all others in whatever is admitted into the pages of the Harbinger. We shall suffer no attachment to literature, no taste for abstract discussion, no love of purely intellectual theories, to seduce us from our devotion to the cause of the oppressed, the down trodden, the insulted and injured masses of our fellow men. Every pulsation of our being vibrates in sympathy with the wrongs of the toiling millions; and every wise effort for their speedy enfranchisement will find in us resolute and indomitable advocates. After Brook Farm's dissolution, the publication was eventually moved to New York City under the editorial control of George Ripley and Charles Anderson Dana where it continued weekly until October 1847. In addition to Ripley and Dana, early contributors to The Harbinger included Parke Godwin, James Russell Lowell, William Wetmore Story, John Greenleaf Whittier, and Nathaniel Parker Willis. Edgar Allan Poe, who strongly distrusted the Utopian movements, referred to The Harbinger as "the most reputable organ of the Crazyites".

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with The Phalanx

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what The Phalanx 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 The Phalanx 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 The Phalanx 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 The Phalanx

In research: The Phalanx 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 The Phalanx 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: The Phalanx is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Fourierism, History of science journal stubs, History of social science journals, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for The Phalanx 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 The Phalanx in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is The Phalanx in simple terms?

Why does The Phalanx 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 The Phalanx?

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 The Phalanx.