earth science

Michael John O'Hara

Michael John O'Hara 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 Michael John O'Hara rather than just read about it. In short: Michael John O'Hara (22 February 1933 — 24 November 2014) was a British geologist who specialised in igneous petrology. Born in Sydney, Australia, and raised in the UK, O'Hara began his geology studies at Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he spent the period 1952–58, and was awarded both his undergraduate and PhD degrees.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Michael John O'Hara (22 February 1933 — 24 November 2014) was a British geologist who specialised in igneous petrology. Born in Sydney, Australia, and raised in the UK, O'Hara began his geology studies at Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he spent the period 1952–58, and was awarded both his undergraduate and PhD degrees. In 1958, he took up a position at the University of Edinburgh in the Grant Institute of Geology. He was appointed to a personal chair in 1970. During this time, he spent some time at the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institute, and also served as a NASA principal investigator from 1967 to 1974, working on lunar rock samples from the Apollo missions. In 1978, he moved from Edinburgh to become head of the geology department at University College of Wales Aberystwyth, where he remained until 1993. This period included academic postings at California Institute of Technology, Harvard University and Sultan Qaboos University, as well as national administerial duties with the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). He was finally appointed Distinguished Research Professor at Cardiff University in 1993.

Awards and recognition O'Hara's made fundamental contributions to the understanding of the origin and evolution of basalts, and their chemical signatures. His “outstanding achievements in research of the constitution and evolution of the Earth and other planets” were recognised with a number of medals and awards, including the Murchison Medal of the Geological Society of London in 1983; the N. L. Bowen Medal of the American Geophysical Union in 1984; and the Harry H. Hess Medal of the American Geophysical Union in 2007. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1969 and a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1981. He was a Founding Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales, when it was established in 2010.

Mountaineering and rock climbing Whilst an undergraduate in the 1950's, O'Hara climbed several significant alpine climbing routes in the European Alps and pioneered a range of new climbs in the UK, he took part in over 30 first ascents and several of his new routes in Scotland are still regarded as '3-star' classics in modern climbing guidebooks. In addition to several first ascents on other cliffs in the immediate area, he played a central part in the development of rock climbing on Carnmore crag in the Fisherfield Forest, being involved in ten of the first 13 climbs established there. One of his Carnmore rock climbs, Dragon (E1 5b), is featured in the compendium of classic UK rock climbs Hard Rock. He also went with Eric Langmuir "to investigate a report that Eric's father had given of some rocks on Beinn Trilleachan that he had spotted when fishing on the loch and which might be of interest", where they made the first ascent of Sickle and of Spartan Slab (Spartan being another 3 star classic), and in doing this they established the first modern rock climbs on the Etive Slabs. Another 3 star classic route that he pioneered, after initial exploration with Langmuir, was Minus One Direct on the north face of Ben Nevis.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Michael John O'Hara

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Michael John O'Hara 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 Michael John O'Hara 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 Michael John O'Hara 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 Michael John O'Hara

In research: Michael John O'Hara 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 Michael John O'Hara 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: Michael John O'Hara is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1933 births, 2014 deaths, 20th-century Australian geologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Michael John O'Hara 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 Michael John O'Hara in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Michael John O'Hara in simple terms?

Why does Michael John O'Hara 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 Michael John O'Hara?

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 Michael John O'Hara.