physics

Richard Doell

Richard Doell 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 Richard Doell rather than just read about it. In short: Richard Doell (1923 – March 6, 2008) was an American geophysicist, known for developing the time scale for geomagnetic reversals with Allan V. Cox and Brent Dalrymple.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Richard Doell (1923 – March 6, 2008) was an American geophysicist, known for developing the time scale for geomagnetic reversals with Allan V. Cox and Brent Dalrymple. This work was a major step in the development of plate tectonics. Doell shared the Vetlesen Prize with Cox and Dalrymple.

Life and career Doell was born in Oakland, California, U.S. in 1923, and grew up with his parents Raymond and Mable Doell in Carpinteria, California, U.S. After serving for 2 years as a combat infantryman during World War II, he resumed his studies at UC Berkeley, where he earned his doctorate in geophysics in 1955. Following graduation, Richard held teaching positions at the University of Toronto and MIT. Richard joined the U.S. Geological Survey Geophysics Branch in Menlo Park, California, in 1955 where he specialized in research on the Earth’s magnetic field and remanent magnetization in rocks. He was an integral member of a team that presented convincing evidence of periodic polarity reversals of earth’s main magnetic field by analyzing magnetization of rock samples collected from widely separated, geologically young, volcanic sequences. Furthermore, isotopic dating of the rock samples provided the first time scale of polarity epochs for the last 3.2 million years. The timed sequence of reversals, with subsequent refinements by this USGS team and others, proved to be a major component of the plate tectonics revolution in the mid-to late 1960s. It not only provided the basis for confirming the hypothesis of sea floor spreading, but it also was a technique for quantifying rates and amounts of crustal plate movements on a global scale. For his numerous unique pioneering scientific contributions and leadership, Richard Doell was elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences in 1969 and he shared the prestigious Vetlesen Prize with Allan V. Cox and G. Brent Dalrymple of the USGS and S. Keith Runcorn in 1971. Richard served as President of the American Geophysical Union’s section on Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism from 1968 to 1970 and as Chief of the Geological Survey’s Branch of Theoretical Geophysics from 1967 to 1971. In 1978, Richard retired from the USGS to pursue his passions for the new field of environmental studies, sailing, exploration, and photography. Having built a 38-foot sailboat, Muav, he began a series of long sailing cruises to Alaska, French Polynesia, and northern Europe. In 1984 he married Janet Hoare who joined him on those voyages. Doell died in his sleep on March 6, 2008, at his home in Point Richmond, California.

Publications "Measurement of the remanent magnetization of igneous rocks" with Allan V. Cox. U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin No. 1203-A[link removed] (1965) "Computer program for a generic western coal region simulated model developed to investigate potential applications of system dynamics modeling to the EIS process," U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report No. 78-321[link removed] (1978)

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Richard Doell

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Richard Doell 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 Richard Doell 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 Richard Doell 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 Richard Doell

In research: Richard Doell 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 Richard Doell 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: Richard Doell is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1923 births, 2008 deaths, American geophysicists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Richard Doell 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 Richard Doell in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Richard Doell in simple terms?

Richard Doell (1923 – March 6, 2008) was an American geophysicist, known for developing the time scale for geomagnetic reversals with Allan V. Cox and Brent Dalrymple.

Why does Richard Doell 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 Richard Doell?

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 Richard Doell.