science

Thomas Thorburn

Thomas Thorburn 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 Thomas Thorburn rather than just read about it. In short: Thomas William Thorburn (April 13, 1913 - March 13, 2003) was a Swedish economist, and Professor of Business Administration at the Stockholm School of Economics, known from his work on the "Supply and demand of water transport" (1960), and the "Cost-benefit analysis in language planning" (1971). Born in Uddevalla, Thorburn obtained his PhD in 1960 at the Stockholm School of Economics with the thesis, entitled "Suppl…

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Thomas William Thorburn (April 13, 1913 - March 13, 2003) was a Swedish economist, and Professor of Business Administration at the Stockholm School of Economics, known from his work on the "Supply and demand of water transport" (1960), and the "Cost-benefit analysis in language planning" (1971). Born in Uddevalla, Thorburn obtained his PhD in 1960 at the Stockholm School of Economics with the thesis, entitled "Supply and demand of water transport: studies in cost and revenue structures of ships, ports and transport buyers with respect to their effects on supply and demand of water carriage of goods." After his graduation Thorburn served his academic career at the Stockholm School of Economics, where he was Professor in Business Administration from 1961 to 1978. He was succeeded by Nils Brunsson.

Selected publications Thomas Thorburn. Supply and Demand of Water Transport: Studies in Cost and Revenue Structures of Ships, Ports, and Transport Buyers with Respect to Their Effects on Supply and Demand of Water Transport of Goods. Business Research Institute, Stockholm School for Economics, 1960 Thomas Thorburn. Förvaltningsekonomi: ekonomiska beslut i offentlig förvaltning. Prisma, 1974 Thorburn, Thomas. Economics of transport: the Swedish case, 1780-1980. Vol. 12. Almqvist & Wiksell Intl, 2000. Articles, a selection:

Thorburn, Thomas. "Cost-benefit analysis in language planning." in: Can language be planned (1971): 283–305.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Thomas Thorburn

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Thomas Thorburn 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 Thomas Thorburn 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 Thomas Thorburn 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 Thomas Thorburn

In research: Thomas Thorburn 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 Thomas Thorburn 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: Thomas Thorburn is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1913 births, 2003 deaths, 20th-century Swedish economists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Thomas Thorburn 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 Thomas Thorburn in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Thomas Thorburn in simple terms?

Why does Thomas Thorburn 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 Thomas Thorburn?

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 Thomas Thorburn.