astronomy

George Nelson Coffey

George Nelson Coffey 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 Nelson Coffey rather than just read about it. In short: George Nelson Coffey (January 17, 1875 − October 4, 1967) was an American pedologist. George was born in Patterson, North Carolina; the son of Elijah Coffey and Mary Ann Nelson.

Key takeaways

George Nelson Coffey 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 Nelson Coffey to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of George Nelson Coffey from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

George Nelson Coffey (January 17, 1875 − October 4, 1967) was an American pedologist. George was born in Patterson, North Carolina; the son of Elijah Coffey and Mary Ann Nelson. He matriculated to the University of North Carolina, where he studied geology and chemistry. From 1899 to 1900, he worked as an assistant in the university's geology laboratory, then graduated cum laude in 1900 with a bachelor's degree in philosophy. Following his graduation, he went to work as a field assistant for the Bureau of Soils in the Department of Agriculture. He held this position for the next four years, where he was co-author of 13 soil survey reports covering the states of Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, North Carolina, and Ohio. In 1905, he was placed in charge of soil classification and correlation for the Bureau, during which he became aware of the need for a better classification system based on soil properties rather than the geology. This need prompted him to perform graduate studies, and he received an M.S. from George Washington University in 1907, with the Master's thesis The Basis of Soil Classification. In 1909, he was named President of the American Society of Agronomy, becoming the second president of that recently created institution. During his term he attempted to introduce the ideas of Russian geologist Vasily Dokuchaev to American soil scientists, emphasizing a need to focus more on the properties of soil rather than exclusively studying their geology. He served as chairman of a committee of 15 people tasked with creating a more uniform system of nomenclature and classification for soils in the United States and Canada. George Coffey was the first person to publish a national soil map of the United States, which appeared in the USDA Bureau of Soils Bulletin 85 in 1912. However, it was not released as an "official" map by the Bureau as it did not conform to the prevailing soil classification concepts of the first Bureau Chief, Milton Whitney. Coffey had resigned from the Bureau in 1911 to join the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station, and it would remain for Curtis F. Marbut to bring Dokuchaev's ideas to prominence. Coffey was awarded a Ph.D. in geology from the George Washington University in 1912 with a thesis titled A Study of Soils in the United States. While at Wooster, Coffey performed studies on erosion in Ohio. The area had been subject to multiple glaciations, which had resulted in impacts to drainage. This led to a lifelong passion for the subject, and he would publish a series of papers regarding drainage. He was also involved in fertilizers trials, particularly with regard to the effects of different soil types. On April 22, 1914, he was married to Clara Estella Kean in Wooster, Ohio. He left Ohio for a position at the University of Illinois, where he became Assistant State Leader for County Farm Advisors. He published his last article in the Journal of the American Society of Agronomy in 1916, leaving soil science for a business career in order to be closer to his family.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with George Nelson Coffey

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what George Nelson Coffey 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 Nelson Coffey 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 Nelson Coffey 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 Nelson Coffey

In research: George Nelson Coffey 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 Nelson Coffey 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 Nelson Coffey is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1875 births, 1967 deaths, 20th-century American agronomists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for George Nelson Coffey 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 Nelson Coffey in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is George Nelson Coffey in simple terms?

George Nelson Coffey (January 17, 1875 − October 4, 1967) was an American pedologist. George was born in Patterson, North Carolina; the son of Elijah Coffey and Mary Ann Nelson.

Why does George Nelson Coffey 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 Nelson Coffey?

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 Nelson Coffey.