physics

Maurice Ewing

Maurice Ewing is a physics 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 Maurice Ewing rather than just read about it. In short: William Maurice "Doc" Ewing (May 12, 1906 – May 4, 1974) was an American geophysicist and oceanographer. Ewing has been described as a pioneering geophysicist who worked on the research of seismic reflection and refraction in ocean basins, ocean bottom photography, submarine sound transmission (including the SOFAR channel), deep sea core samples of the ocean bottom, theory and observation of earthquake surface waves…

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

William Maurice "Doc" Ewing (May 12, 1906 – May 4, 1974) was an American geophysicist and oceanographer. Ewing has been described as a pioneering geophysicist who worked on the research of seismic reflection and refraction in ocean basins, ocean bottom photography, submarine sound transmission (including the SOFAR channel), deep sea core samples of the ocean bottom, theory and observation of earthquake surface waves, fluidity of the Earth's core, generation and propagation of microseisms, submarine explosion seismology, marine gravity surveys, bathymetry and sedimentation, natural radioactivity of ocean waters and sediments, study of abyssal plains and submarine canyons.

Biography Ewing was born in Lockney, Texas, where he was the eldest surviving child of a large farm family. He won a scholarship to attend Rice University, earning a BA with honors in 1926. He completed his graduate studies at the same institution, earning an MA in 1927 and being awarded his PhD in 1931. In 1928 he was married to Avarilla Hildenbrand, and the couple had a son. The couple divorced in 1941. Ewing worked as an instructor at the Rice Institute while pursuing his PhD before joining the faculty at Lehigh University in 1930, where he served until 1944. While at Lehigh, he was instrumental in initiating a program in geophysics. In 1944 he married Margaret Sloan Kidder, with whom he had four children. He moved to Columbia University, becoming a professor of geology in 1947. In 1959 he was named the Higgins Professor of Geology at Columbia. Dr. Ewing (often simply called 'Doc' by those who worked with him) was the founder (established in 1949) and first director of Lamont Geological Observatory (now known as Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) in Palisades, New York) where he worked with J. Lamar Worzel (gravity specialist), Dr. Frank Press (seismologist), Jack Nafe, Jack Oliver, and geologists and oceanographic cartographers Dr. Bruce Heezen and Marie Tharp. The former LDEO research vessel R/V Maurice Ewing was named in his honor. He divorced a second time, and married his third wife Harriet Greene Bassett in 1965. In 1972 he joined the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, and was named the head of the Division of Earth and Planetary Sciences of the Marine Biomedical Institute.

During his career he published over 340 scientific papers. He served as president of the American Geophysical Union and the Seismological Society of America. He led over 50 oceanic expeditions. He made many contributions to oceanography, including the discovery of the SOFAR Channel, the invention of the sofar bomb, and did much fundamental work on plate tectonics. While he was working on SOFAR, Ewing engaged in deep water photography, partly as a hobby and partly to help the government identify lost ships destroyed by U-boats. He was the chief scientist on board the Glomar Challenger. He originated Project Mogul, an early program to detect Soviet nuclear weapons tests. Ewing suffered a fatal stroke in 1974 in Galveston, Texas.

Awards and honors Penrose Medal, 1974 (posthumously) Walter H. Bucher Medal, 1974 William Bowie Medal, 1957 Arthur L. Day Medal, 1949 John J. Carty Award of the National Academy of Sciences, 1963 Navy Distinguished Public Service Award, 1955 Sidney Powers Memorial Medal, 1968 Robert Earl McConnell Award, 1973 National Medal of Science, 1973 Vega Medal of the Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography, 1965 Cullum Geographical Medal of the American Geographical Society, 1961 Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society, 1964 Elected to the National Academy of Sciences, 1948 Elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1956 Elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (1972) Elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1938 Elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society, 1938 Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1951 Elected to the American Philosophical Society, 1959 Foreign Member of the Geological Society of London, 1964 Guggenheim Fellow, 1938, 1953, 1955 Vetlesen Prize, 1960 Eleven honorary degrees Geophysics Laboratory at the University of Texas Medical Branch Marine Science Institute was renamed Maurice Ewing Hall. The Maurice Ewing Medals of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists and American Geophysical Union were named after him. The lunar wrinkle ridge Dorsa Ewing was named after him.

See also List of geophysicists Research Vessel Maurice Ewing

References

External links Photo Video Lecture Explaining SOFAR Spheres National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir Article regarding Ewing's work with William Donn on Ice Ages Maurice Ewing, Earth Scientist, Dies A Theory of Ice Ages, Maurice Ewing and William L. Donn SOSUS system monitorowania i kontroli dźwięku pod wodą w czasie Zimnej Wojny. cz. 1, www.okretypodwodne.edu.pl (pl) SOSUS system monitorowania i kontroli dźwięku pod wodą w czasie Zimnej Wojny. cz. 2, www.okretypodwodne.edu.pl (pl) SOSUS system monitorowania i kontroli dźwięku pod wodą w czasie Zimnej Wojny. cz. 3, www.okretypodwodne.edu.pl (pl)

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Maurice Ewing

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Maurice Ewing claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, 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 Maurice Ewing 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 Maurice Ewing 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 Maurice Ewing

In research: Maurice Ewing appears in physics 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 Maurice Ewing 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: Maurice Ewing is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1906 births, 1974 deaths, 20th-century American physicists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Maurice Ewing 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 Maurice Ewing in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Maurice Ewing in simple terms?

Why does Maurice Ewing matter?

Because it connects several physics 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 Maurice Ewing?

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 Maurice Ewing.