astronomy

Timothy Plowman

Timothy Plowman is a astronomy 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 Timothy Plowman rather than just read about it. In short: Timothy Charles Plowman (November 17, 1944 – January 7, 1989) was an American ethnobotanist best known for his intensive work over the course of 15 years on the genus Erythroxylum in general, and the cultivated coca species in particular. He collected more than 700 specimens from South America, housed in the collection of the Field Museum of Natural History.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Timothy Charles Plowman (November 17, 1944 – January 7, 1989) was an American ethnobotanist best known for his intensive work over the course of 15 years on the genus Erythroxylum in general, and the cultivated coca species in particular. He collected more than 700 specimens from South America, housed in the collection of the Field Museum of Natural History. The standard author abbreviation Plowman is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name. Plowman joined the Field Museum of Natural History in 1978 where he became tenured in 1983 and was appointed Curator in 1988. He published more than 80 scientific papers (46 on Erythroxylum) and served as editor for several scientific journals. He is one of the main subjects of One River: Explorations and Discoveries in the Amazon Rain Forest by Wade Davis. Both were students of Richard Evans Schultes, the father of modern ethnobotany. Plowman died of AIDS, which he contracted from pre-trip inoculations. The nightshade species Brunfelsia plowmaniana is named after him, as also is the monotypic genus Plowmania. The single species, Plowmania nyctaginoides (Standl.) Hunz. & Subils is closely related to Brunfelsia, but differs from it most notably in the large and brilliant orange-red flowers (reminiscent of those of the better-known ornamental Ipomoea coccinea) that have earned it well-deserved place in U.S. horticulture. Also in 2004, botanists Faden & C.R.Hardy published Plowmanianthus, a genus of plants with 5 species and 2 subspecies in the family Commelinaceae (the spiderwort and dayflower family). In 2008, Thomas Croat named a species of Anthurium in honor of Plowman, A. timplowmanii.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Timothy Plowman

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

In research: Timothy Plowman appears in astronomy 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 Timothy Plowman 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: Timothy Plowman is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1944 births, 1989 deaths, 20th-century American botanists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Timothy Plowman 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 Timothy Plowman in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Timothy Plowman in simple terms?

Why does Timothy Plowman matter?

Because it connects several astronomy 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 Timothy Plowman?

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 Timothy Plowman.