astronomy

Paul G. Richards

Paul G. Richards 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 Paul G. Richards rather than just read about it. In short: Paul G. Richards (born March 1943) is an English-born, American seismologist who has made fundamental contributions to the theory of seismic wave propagation and in methods to understand how the recorded shapes of seismic waves are affected by processes of diffraction, attenuation and scattering.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Paul G. Richards (born March 1943) is an English-born, American seismologist who has made fundamental contributions to the theory of seismic wave propagation and in methods to understand how the recorded shapes of seismic waves are affected by processes of diffraction, attenuation and scattering. He is the Mellon Professor of the Natural Sciences at Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University.

Education Richards was born in England and attended Cambridge University where he earned his Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Mathematics in 1965 and Caltech where he earned his Master of Science (M.S.) in Geology in 1966 and his Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Geophysics in 1970. His thesis title was, "A contribution to the theory of high frequency elastic waves, with applications to the shadow boundary of the Earth's core."

Academic career From 1979 to 1996, Richards was Professor of Geological Sciences, Columbia University and from 1996 to present, he is Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University. Since 1997, he has been the Mellon Professor of the Natural Sciences, Columbia University. He has taken a number of academic leaves, including years in Washington working on nuclear arms control in the U.S. Department of State, and four sabbaticals taken in New Zealand, at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and as a Phi Beta Kappa lecturer. He co-authored with Keiiti Aki "Quantitative Seismology: theory and methods". He is the author of more than 130 peer-reviewed publications. He has an H-index of 21. His most cited publications are Song and Richards (1996) (199 citations) and Richards and Menke (1983) (169 citations).

Honors His professional memberships include the Seismological Society of America, Society of Exploration Geophysicists, Royal Astronomical Society, American Geophysical Union (Fellow since 1977), Arms Control Association, American Association for the Advancement of Science (Fellow since 1993), Council on Foreign Relations, International Society of Explosives Engineers, and American Academy of Arts and Sciences (Fellow). He is involved in nuclear explosion monitoring and arms control has been a member of the Seismic Review Panel (SRP) for the U.S. Air Force Technical Applications Center (AFTAC) from 1985 to present. Richards received the Harry Fielding Reid medal of the Seismological Society of America in 2010.

Important publications Song, X., and P.G. Richards (1996), Seismological evidence for differential rotation of the Earth's inner core, Nature, 382, 221-224. Richards, P.G. and W. Menke (1983), The apparent attenuation of a scattering medium, Bull. Seism. Soc. Amer., 73, 1005-1021. Keiiti Aki, Paul G. Richards (2002), Quantitative Seismology: Theory and Methods, University Science Books, 2002, ISBN 0-935702-96-2, ISBN 978-0-935702-96-5, 700 pages.

References

External links Richards’ website at Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory (Columbia University)

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Paul G. Richards

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Paul G. Richards 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 Paul G. Richards 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 Paul G. Richards 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 Paul G. Richards

In research: Paul G. Richards 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 Paul G. Richards 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: Paul G. Richards is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1943 births, Alumni of the University of Cambridge, American seismologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Paul G. Richards 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 Paul G. Richards in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Paul G. Richards in simple terms?

Why does Paul G. Richards 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 Paul G. Richards?

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 Paul G. Richards.