earth science

John Renton

John Renton 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 John Renton rather than just read about it. In short: John J. "Jack" Renton (1933 – February 28, 2020) was a professor of geology at West Virginia University, known for the quality of the teaching in his introductory geology courses and in the video version of the course, Nature of Earth. In 2001 he received the WVU Eberly College of Arts & Sciences Outstanding Teacher Award, the WVU Foundation Outstanding Teaching Award, and was named “West Virginia Professor of the Y…

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

John J. "Jack" Renton (1933 – February 28, 2020) was a professor of geology at West Virginia University, known for the quality of the teaching in his introductory geology courses and in the video version of the course, Nature of Earth. In 2001 he received the WVU Eberly College of Arts & Sciences Outstanding Teacher Award, the WVU Foundation Outstanding Teaching Award, and was named “West Virginia Professor of the Year” by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. In 2002, he was named an Eberly Family Professor for Distinguished Teaching, one of only four at the University.

Education Renton earned a B.S. in Chemistry from Waynesburg College in 1956, and his M.S. in Geology from West Virginia University in 1959. From 1960 to 1963 he served as an R&D Officer in the U.S. Air Force Solid State Physics Group at Wright Patterson AFB, before returning to WVU to complete his Ph.D. in 1965.

Academic career He taught at WVU from 1965 until his retirement in May 2015, reaching approximately 35,000 students during 100 semesters prior. His research specializations are coal geology and geochemistry. His scholarly contributions have been in geochemistry, coal geology, X-Ray diffractometry, and clay mineralogy. Throughout his career, he published ~70 papers and managed almost $5 million in research funding. Many of his scientific contributions came while he headed the West Virginia Geological & Economic Survey Analytical Section concurrent with his WVU appointment from 1965 to 1992. Renton established the John and Eleanor Renton Geology Field Camp Scholarship to help students attend summer geology field camp, an experience he felt has a long-term impact on their education and future career. Renton used The Research Repository @ WVU to make teaching materials and his hand-drawn illustrations, a culmination of over 50 years of the study of Earth, freely available as an Introduction to Earth Science website.

Nature of Earth Renton has created a 36 part lecture series on DVD called Nature of Earth. Bill Gates has this program as example of the sorts of educational innovation that the Gates Foundation intends to support, calling the course "phenomenal".

Bibliography Renton, John (1994). Physical Geology. West Publishing Company. p. 706. ISBN 978-0-314-02514-2. Renton, John (2005). Planet Earth (2nd ed.). Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company. p. 706. ISBN 978-0-7575-1059-5. Renton, John (2006). Nature of Earth: An Introduction to Geology. Vol. 1–36. The Teaching Company. ISBN 1-59803-221-6. Renton, John (2011). Physical Geology Across the American Landscape. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company. p. 708. ISBN 978-0-7575-5598-5.

References

External links Renton's web page at WVU

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with John Renton

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what John Renton 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 John Renton 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 John Renton 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 John Renton

In research: John Renton 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 John Renton 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: John Renton is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1933 births, 2020 deaths, American geologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for John Renton 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 John Renton in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is John Renton in simple terms?

Why does John Renton 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 John Renton?

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 John Renton.