earth science

Richard W. Hughes

Richard W. Hughes 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 Richard W. Hughes rather than just read about it. In short: Richard W. Hughes is an American gemologist and author who specialises in corundum, particularly rubies and sapphires.

Key takeaways

Richard W. Hughes 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 Richard W. Hughes to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Richard W. Hughes from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Richard W. Hughes is an American gemologist and author who specialises in corundum, particularly rubies and sapphires. He is a co-founder of Lotus Gemology, a gemological testing laboratory based in Bangkok, Thailand.

Career Richard W. Hughes graduated from the Asian Institute of Gemological Sciences (AIGS) in Bangkok, Thailand, in 1980. He became a Fellow of the Gemological Association of Great Britain (FGA) in 1982. Hughes served as director of AIGS in the 1980s. In 1997, he published Ruby & Sapphire. Hughes has authored and co-authored several books on gemstones and has published articles in the field of gemology. He received the American Gem Society's Richard T. Liddicoat Journalism Award in 2004 and again in 2005.

Books Terra Spinel: Terra Firma, Vladyslav Y. Yavorskyy and Hughes, R.W. (2010). Bangkok: Yavorskyy Co., 202 pp., ISBN 978-0-615-40901-6 Ruby & Sapphire, Hughes, R.W. (1997) Boulder, CO, RWH Publishing, 512pp. ISBN 978-0-9645097-6-4 Corundum, Hughes, R.W. (1990). Northamptonshire, UK: Butterworth’s Gem Books, Butterworth-Heinemann, 314 pp., ISBN 978-0-7506-1007-0 The Book of Ruby & Sapphire, Halford-Watkins, J.F. and Hughes, R.W. (2012). RWH Publishing, 434 pp., ISBN 978-0-9645097-0-2

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Richard W. Hughes

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Richard W. Hughes 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 Richard W. Hughes 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 W. Hughes 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 W. Hughes

In research: Richard W. Hughes 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 Richard W. Hughes 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 W. Hughes is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 20th-century American science writers, 21st-century American jewellers, 21st-century American non-fiction writers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Richard W. Hughes 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 W. Hughes in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Richard W. Hughes in simple terms?

Richard W. Hughes is an American gemologist and author who specialises in corundum, particularly rubies and sapphires.

Why does Richard W. Hughes 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 Richard W. Hughes?

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 W. Hughes.