earth science

Lawrence Morley

Lawrence Morley 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 Lawrence Morley rather than just read about it. In short: Lawrence Whitaker Morley (February 19, 1920 – April 22, 2013) was a Canadian geophysicist and remote sensing pioneer. He was best known for his studies on the magnetic properties of the oceanic crust and their effect on plate tectonics and for starting the remote sensing program in Canada.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Lawrence Whitaker Morley (February 19, 1920 – April 22, 2013) was a Canadian geophysicist and remote sensing pioneer. He was best known for his studies on the magnetic properties of the oceanic crust and their effect on plate tectonics and for starting the remote sensing program in Canada.

Biography Morley worked on the theory of continental drift similar to work by Britons Fred Vine and Drummond Matthews. The three contributed significantly to geology by relating the magnetic properties of ocean crust to the processes involved in the theory of plate tectonics. Following graduate studies at the University of Toronto, Morley became Director of the Geophysics Branch of the Geological Survey of Canada in Ottawa (1950–1969). In 1970 he founded the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing and served as its Director General from 1971 to 1980. In 1974, Morley received an honorary degree from York University. He approached the university's faculty of science in 1985 to promote the creation of an institute of space research, which was founded by himself in 1986 as the Institute for Space and Terrestrial Science (ISTS). Morley served as a radar officer for the Royal Canadian Navy during the Battle of the Atlantic during the Second World War. He has published over 65 scientific and technical papers on mineral exploration and remote sensing. Morely was the founding Chairman of the Canadian Remote Sensing Society in 1974. In 1986 he received first Gold Medal of the Canadian Remote Sensing Society. In 2013 the Gold Medal was renamed the Larry Morley Gold Medal in his honor. Morley was awarded a Gold Medal from the Royal Canadian Geographical Society in 1995 and in 2015 was inducted into the Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame.

See also Natural Resources Canada Geophysics

References

External links Media related to Lawrence Morley at Wikimedia Commons

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Lawrence Morley

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Lawrence Morley 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 Lawrence Morley 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 Lawrence Morley 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 Lawrence Morley

In research: Lawrence Morley 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 Lawrence Morley 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: Lawrence Morley is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1920 births, 2013 deaths, Canadian geologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Lawrence Morley 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 Lawrence Morley in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Lawrence Morley in simple terms?

Why does Lawrence Morley 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 Lawrence Morley?

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 Lawrence Morley.