earth science

Jake Hancock

Jake Hancock 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 Jake Hancock rather than just read about it. In short: John Michael Hancock (10 August 1928 – 4 March 2004), known professionally as Jake, was a geologist with particular interests in chalk and the Cretaceous Period. Biography Hancock was born on 10 August 1928 in Salisbury, Wiltshire, educated at Dauntsey's School near Devizes and was a national serviceman in the Royal Air Force between 1947 and 1949, before going to Queens' College, Cambridge, to read geology and petr…

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

John Michael Hancock (10 August 1928 – 4 March 2004), known professionally as Jake, was a geologist with particular interests in chalk and the Cretaceous Period.

Biography Hancock was born on 10 August 1928 in Salisbury, Wiltshire, educated at Dauntsey's School near Devizes and was a national serviceman in the Royal Air Force between 1947 and 1949, before going to Queens' College, Cambridge, to read geology and petrology as an undergraduate. He graduated in 1952 and stayed on to work for his doctorate under the supervision of Maurice Black. His thesis was entitled The marginal facies of the British Chalk and in 1955 he joined the junior academic staff at King's College, London. He became Senior Lecturer in 1970 and Reader in 1977. In 1986 he moved to Imperial College London where he was awarded the 1989 Lyell Medal of the Geological Society of London and retired in 1993 to Shaftesbury but continued to teach at Imperial as Emeritus Professor. He was also an erudite teacher, bringing all aspects of science and general life to bear on his subject; one of his more generalist themes for the undergraduate geologist, being "How can the study of gardening benefit the geologist?". He also had a long time commitment to the Working Men's College in North London. His contributions included over 110 scientific papers in English and French and a pursuit of the study of the relationship between geology and viniculture. He died of cancer on 4 March 2004. He was the subject of a memorial volume of the Proceedings of the Geologists' Association in 2006 (Vol 117, Part 2), on which some of this article is based.

References

External links Geological Society of London. John Michael (Jake) Hancock

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Jake Hancock

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Jake Hancock 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 Jake Hancock 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 Jake Hancock 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 Jake Hancock

In research: Jake Hancock 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 Jake Hancock 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: Jake Hancock is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1928 births, 2004 deaths, 20th-century British geologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Jake Hancock 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 Jake Hancock in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Jake Hancock in simple terms?

John Michael Hancock (10 August 1928 – 4 March 2004), known professionally as Jake, was a geologist with particular interests in chalk and the Cretaceous Period. Biography Hancock was born on 10 August 1928 in Salisbury, Wiltshire, educated at Dauntsey's School near Devizes and was a national servi…

Why does Jake Hancock 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 Jake Hancock?

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 Jake Hancock.