engineering

H. J. Gough

H. J. Gough is a engineering 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 H. J. Gough rather than just read about it. In short: Herbert John Gough (26 April 1890 – 1 June 1965) was a British engineer and a research director. He was noted for his research on metal fatigue and he was the chief engineer at Unilever from 1945–55.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Herbert John Gough (26 April 1890 – 1 June 1965) was a British engineer and a research director. He was noted for his research on metal fatigue and he was the chief engineer at Unilever from 1945–55.

Early life Herbert Gough was born in Bermondsey, London, in 1890. He attended the technical school at the Regent Street Polytechnic before winning a scholarship to University College School. In 1909 he became an apprentice at Vickers, Sons, progressing to become a design draughtsman by 1913; he also attended university lectures as part of his development. He duly graduated from the University of London with a BSc, to which he later added a DSc and PhD in engineering.

Great War On the outbreak of war he joined the Signals branch of the Royal Engineers, being commissioned and serving from 1914 to May 1919. For his service as a signals officer in France and Flanders, he was twice mentioned in dispatches, and was awarded a military MBE in 1919.

Inter-war Having joined briefly in 1914, Gough returned to work at the National Physical Laboratory, at Teddington, where he remained until 1938. His area of expertise was the study of material fatigue and, in 1933, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS).

Second World War In 1938, he was appointed Director-General of Scientific Research at the Ministry of Supply. He was promoted to become Deputy Controller-General of all Research and Development at the MoS. His responsibilities included the Telecommunications Research Establishment at Malvern, Porton Down, and for the rocket station at Aberystwyth Port, Cardiganshire. For his war-service, Gough was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1942, and in 1947 he was decorated with the Medal of Freedom with Silver Palm by the United States. In 1946, he presented the Thomas Hawksley Lecturer on Unexploded ordnance.

Post-War After the war, Dr. Gough joined Unilever as Engineer-in-Chief; he retired in 1955. He was President of the IMechE in 1949. Dr. Herbert Gough CB, MBE, FRS died in 1965.

Works The fatigue of metals: with numerous diagrams and tables, Scott, Greenwood & Son, 1924

References

External links "H.J. Gough", Google Scholar

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with H. J. Gough

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what H. J. Gough claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, 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 H. J. Gough 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 H. J. Gough 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 H. J. Gough

In research: H. J. Gough appears in engineering 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 H. J. Gough 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: H. J. Gough is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1890 births, 1965 deaths, Alumni of the Regent Street Polytechnic, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for H. J. Gough 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 H. J. Gough in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is H. J. Gough in simple terms?

Why does H. J. Gough matter?

Because it connects several engineering 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 H. J. Gough?

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 H. J. Gough.