astronomy

George Demas

George Demas 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 George Demas rather than just read about it. In short: George Demas (April 28, 1958 – December 23, 1999) was an American pedologist whose pioneering studies of subaqueous soil contributed to the understanding of soil formation and the expansion of the concept of soil. USDA soil taxonomy was revised as a result.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

George Demas (April 28, 1958 – December 23, 1999) was an American pedologist whose pioneering studies of subaqueous soil contributed to the understanding of soil formation and the expansion of the concept of soil. USDA soil taxonomy was revised as a result. Born in the U.S., he earned a B.S. in Soil Science from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1980 followed by an M.S. in soil genesis in 1982. He earned a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland in 1998. His thesis “Subaqueous soils of Sinepatuxent Bay, MD” earned two awards USDA - Secretary's Honor Award for Scientific Research, and Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) - The Emil Truog Award for outstanding contribution to Soil Science. George Demas worked as a soil surveyor for the Natural Resources Conservation Service in the states of Maryland and New Jersey from 1982 to 1994. During this time he determined that submerged sediments function in the landscape sufficiently similar to soils to be indistinguishable. Soil Survey Horizons published his concept in 1993. He returned to the University of Maryland and researched his ideas from 1994 to 1998. He resumed his duties with USDA-NRCS and continued working until his death in 1999 after contracting pneumonia. The subaqueous soils field continues to grow with expanded graduate studies in Rhode Island and Maine as well as at the University of Maryland.

References

George Demas Elected as Honorary Member of MAPSS

Published works Demas, G. P. 1993. Submerged soils: a new frontier in soil survey. Soil Survey Horizons 34: 44–46. Demas, G. P., M. C. Rabenhorst, and J. C. Stevenson. 1996. Subaqueous Soils: A pedological approach to the study of shallow water habitats. Estuaries 19: 229–237. Demas, G. P., and M. C. Rabenhorst. 1998. Subaqueous soils: a resource inventory protocol. Proceedings of the 16th World Congress on Soil Science, Montpellier, France. August 20–26, 1998. Sym #17, on CD. Demas, G. P., and M. C. Rabenhorst. 1999. Subaqueous soils: pedogenesis in a submersed environment. Soil Sci. Soc. Am J. 63: 1250–1257. Demas, G. P., and M. C. Rabenhorst. 2001. Factors of Subaqueous Soil Formation: a System of Quantitative Pedology for Submersed Environments. Geoderma. 102:189-204

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with George Demas

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what George Demas 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 George Demas 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 George Demas 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 George Demas

In research: George Demas 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 George Demas 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: George Demas is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1958 births, 1999 deaths, 20th-century American earth scientists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for George Demas 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 George Demas in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is George Demas in simple terms?

Why does George Demas 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 George Demas?

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 George Demas.