astronomy

Mark Meier

Mark Meier 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 Mark Meier rather than just read about it. In short: Mark F. Meier (December 19, 1925 – November 25, 2012) was an American glaciologist who was considered a leading expert on the study of rising sea levels due to the melting of glaciers.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Mark F. Meier (December 19, 1925 – November 25, 2012) was an American glaciologist who was considered a leading expert on the study of rising sea levels due to the melting of glaciers. Meier was the Director of the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR) from 1985 to 1994 and remained the institute's director emeritus until his death in 2012. He was also a professor of geological sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder. Meier was born and raised in Iowa. He resided in Boulder, Colorado, since 1985. In 1956, Meier founded the U.S. Geological Survey's department of glaciology. He obtained a doctorate in 1957 from the California Institute of Technology. Meier served as the director of the U.S. Geological Survey's Project Office of Glaciology in Tacoma, Washington, until he became the director of INSTAAR in 1985. Meier was one of the first glaciologists to use remote sensing to study glaciers and rates of melting. He headed several studies of tidewater glacier dynamics in the U.S. state of Alaska. Meier organized the systematic measurement and assessment of glacier mass balance within North America to mark the International Geophysical Year and International Hydrological Decade, which was observed from 1965 to 1975. His numerous recognitions and awards included the Seligman Crystal from the International Glaciological Society in 1985, the Robert E. Horton Medal in 1996, three medals from the USSR Academy of Sciences (now the Russian Academy of Sciences) and the United States Department of the Interior's Distinguished Service Award. Meier died in Boulder, Colorado, on November 25, 2012, at the age of 86.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Mark Meier

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Mark Meier 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 Mark Meier 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 Mark Meier 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 Mark Meier

In research: Mark Meier 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 Mark Meier 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: Mark Meier is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1925 births, 2012 deaths, American glaciologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Mark Meier 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 Mark Meier in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Mark Meier in simple terms?

Mark F. Meier (December 19, 1925 – November 25, 2012) was an American glaciologist who was considered a leading expert on the study of rising sea levels due to the melting of glaciers.

Why does Mark Meier 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 Mark Meier?

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 Mark Meier.