science

William Douglas Francis

William Douglas Francis 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 William Douglas Francis rather than just read about it. In short: William Douglas Francis (6 March 1889 – 2 January 1959) was an Australian botanist. Born in Bega, New South Wales, at the age of 17 he moved with his father Alfred and brother Frederick from Wollongong, where he was attending Wollongong Superior Public School, to Kin Kin in Queensland.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

William Douglas Francis (6 March 1889 – 2 January 1959) was an Australian botanist. Born in Bega, New South Wales, at the age of 17 he moved with his father Alfred and brother Frederick from Wollongong, where he was attending Wollongong Superior Public School, to Kin Kin in Queensland. It was here that he was able to satisfy his strong interest in natural history while helping his father and brother on the farm. In 1908 he qualified as a milk and cream tester in Queensland. In 1919 he was appointed Assistant Government Botanist at the Queensland Herbarium. By 1950 he was appointed Government Botanist. He retired in 1954 and died five years later. He contributed enormously to the classification and identification of Australian rainforest species and is probably best remembered for his book Australian Rainforest Trees. First published in 1929, it has since gone through numerous reprints. An arboretum established at Kin Kin in the 1990s is dedicated to his memory.

References

External links Spiral systems in the organization of living material

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with William Douglas Francis

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what William Douglas Francis 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 William Douglas Francis 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 William Douglas Francis 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 William Douglas Francis

In research: William Douglas Francis 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 William Douglas Francis 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: William Douglas Francis is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1889 births, 1959 deaths, 20th-century Australian botanists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for William Douglas Francis 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.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “William Douglas Francis” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study William Douglas Francis in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is William Douglas Francis in simple terms?

Why does William Douglas Francis 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 William Douglas Francis?

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 William Douglas Francis.