earth science

Geoffrey Hattersley-Smith

Geoffrey Hattersley-Smith is a earth 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 Geoffrey Hattersley-Smith rather than just read about it. In short: Geoffrey Francis Hattersley-Smith D.Phil, FRSC, FRGS, FAINA (22 April 1923 – 21 July 2012) was an English-born Canadian geologist and glaciologist, recognized as a pioneering researcher of Northern Canada. Early life and education Born in London in 1923, he attended school at Winchester College in Hampshire and read geology at New College, Oxford, followed later by a doctorate in glaciology.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Early life and education Born in London in 1923, he attended school at Winchester College in Hampshire and read geology at New College, Oxford, followed later by a doctorate in glaciology. From 1948 to 1950, he was the base leader for the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (now the British Antarctic Survey) on King George Island. He finished his master's degree in 1951.

Career In 1951, he became a staff member with the Canadian Defence Research Board (DRB) (now part of the Department of National Defence). With the DRB he was part of several expeditions to places such as the Saint Elias Mountains in Yukon and Cornwallis Island, Northwest Territories (now Nunavut). From 1953 to 1954 he led the joint Canada-United States expedition to Ellesmere Island. In 1956 he received a Doctor of Philosophy from Oxford for his work on Ellesmere's glaciers. In 1957, he began 16 years of research on Ellesmere Island. As part of the International Geophysical Year (1957–1958) he went to Lake Hazen as part of Operation Hazen and until 1973 worked either there or at Ward Hunt Island. In 1963, he set up a camp and conducted field research at Tanquary Fiord. The teams that he led named over 50 features on Ellesmere Island, such as Barbeau Peak, the highest mountain on the island and Turnabout River. In 1961, he became the first person to climb Mount Whisler, second highest peak on Ellesmere, and on 5 June 1967 led the second team to reach the top of Barbeau Peak that day. He was awarded the Patron's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society in 1966. He was elected to the Royal Society of Canada in 1970 and in 1973 he retired as head of the DRB's Geotechnical Section and returned to England. After returning to England, he re-joined the British Antarctic Survey and was the secretary of the Antarctic Place-names Committee for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London. In 1984 the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names named Cape Hattersley-Smith after him.

Personal life Hattersley-Smith had two Canadian-born children, Kara and Fiona. In 1990 he retired to Kent. He died on 21 July 2012, at the family property where he had grown up.

References

Geographical Names of the Ellesmere Island National Park Reserve and Vicinity by Geoffrey Hattersley-Smith (1998) ISBN 0-919034-96-9 The history of place-names in the Falkland Island Dependencies (South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands) by Geoffrey Hattersley-Smith (1980). British Antarctic Survey Scientific Report No. 101. ISBN 0856650609 The history of place-names in the British Antarctic Territory by Geoffrey Hattersley-Smith (1991). British Antarctic Survey Scientific Report No. 113. ISBN 0856651303

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Geoffrey Hattersley-Smith

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Geoffrey Hattersley-Smith claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth 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 Geoffrey Hattersley-Smith 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 Geoffrey Hattersley-Smith 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 Geoffrey Hattersley-Smith

In research: Geoffrey Hattersley-Smith appears in earth 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 Geoffrey Hattersley-Smith 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: Geoffrey Hattersley-Smith is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1923 births, 2012 deaths, 20th-century British geologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Geoffrey Hattersley-Smith 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 Geoffrey Hattersley-Smith in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Geoffrey Hattersley-Smith in simple terms?

Geoffrey Francis Hattersley-Smith D.Phil, FRSC, FRGS, FAINA (22 April 1923 – 21 July 2012) was an English-born Canadian geologist and glaciologist, recognized as a pioneering researcher of Northern Canada. Early life and education Born in London in 1923, he attended school at Winchester College in…

Why does Geoffrey Hattersley-Smith matter?

Because it connects several earth 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 Geoffrey Hattersley-Smith?

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 Geoffrey Hattersley-Smith.