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William Henry Drew (missionary)

William Henry Drew (missionary) 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 Henry Drew (missionary) rather than just read about it. In short: William Henry Drew was a 19th-century Christian missionary to India who rendered the Tirukkural into English. However, he translated only the first 630 couplets of the Tirukkural.

Key takeaways

  • William Henry Drew (missionary) 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 Henry Drew (missionary) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
  • Reproduce the core statement of William Henry Drew (missionary) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

William Henry Drew was a 19th-century Christian missionary to India who rendered the Tirukkural into English. However, he translated only the first 630 couplets of the Tirukkural.

Work William Henry Drew was a missionary of the London Society in Madras. Drew rendered the Tirukkural into English in prose form and first published it in 1840. Of the 133 chapters of the Kural text, Drew translated only the first 63 chapters. The first edition also included the original Tamil text, Parimelazhagar's commentary, Ramanuja Kavirayar's amplification of the commentary, in addition to Drew's English prose renderings. Drew's rendering closely followed the commentary of Parimelalakar and thus almost remained close to the original work of Valluvar. In 1852, John Lazarus revised Drew's work (Chapters 1 through 63) and published it after completing the remaining portion of the Kural text, beginning from Chapter 64 through Chapter 133. Thus, Drew and Lazarus together made the first complete prose translation of the Tirukkural available in English. As Robert Caldwell remarked, "Drew was a Devout man, a zealous missionary, a man of culture and devoted student of Tamil . . . His edition of the Kural, a great Tamil Classic, though he did not live to complete the work, placed him in the first rank of European Tamil scholars . . . I derived much benefit from the stimulus to Tamil studies that I received from my daily intercourse with Mr. Drew."

Impact One of the sheets of Beschi's Latin translation of the Kural text was found in the handwriting of W. H. Drew, which was kept in the India office Library. This manuscript was later used by Karl Graul for his Latin and German translations of the Kural.

See also

Tirukkural translations Tirukkural translations into English List of translators into English

Notes

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with William Henry Drew (missionary)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what William Henry Drew (missionary) 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 Henry Drew (missionary) 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 Henry Drew (missionary) 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 Henry Drew (missionary)

In research
William Henry Drew (missionary) 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 Henry Drew (missionary) 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 Henry Drew (missionary) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Christian missionaries in India, Linguists of Tamil, Missionary linguists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life
Look for William Henry Drew (missionary) 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 William Henry Drew (missionary) in 20 minutes

  1. Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
  2. Close the page and write down what William Henry Drew (missionary) means in your own words.
  3. Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
  4. Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
  5. Explain William Henry Drew (missionary) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is William Henry Drew (missionary) in simple terms?

William Henry Drew was a 19th-century Christian missionary to India who rendered the Tirukkural into English. However, he translated only the first 630 couplets of the Tirukkural.

Why does William Henry Drew (missionary) 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 Henry Drew (missionary)?

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 Henry Drew (missionary).

Tags

  • Christian missionaries in India
  • Linguists of Tamil
  • Missionary linguists
  • Tamil–English translators
  • Translators of the Tirukkural into English

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