earth science

Robert Were Fox the Younger

Robert Were Fox the Younger 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 Robert Were Fox the Younger rather than just read about it. In short: Robert Were Fox FRS (26 April 1789 – 25 July 1877) was a British geologist, natural philosopher and inventor. He is known mainly for his work on the temperature of the Earth and his construction of a compass to measure magnetic dip at sea.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Robert Were Fox FRS (26 April 1789 – 25 July 1877) was a British geologist, natural philosopher and inventor. He is known mainly for his work on the temperature of the Earth and his construction of a compass to measure magnetic dip at sea.

Life and family Fox was born on 26 April 1789 at Falmouth, England, the eldest son of Robert Were Fox (1754–1818) and his wife, Elizabeth Tregelles. He had nine siblings. The Fox family were members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and were descended from members who had long settled in Cornwall, although they were not related to George Fox who had introduced the community into the county. In 1814, Fox the Younger married Maria Barclay (1785–1858), daughter of Robert and Rachel Barclay of Bury Hill, near Dorking, Surrey. Maria's sister, Lucy, married Fox's cousin, George Croker Fox (1784–1850). Robert Were Fox the Younger and his wife had three children, Anna Maria (1816–1897), Barclay (1817–1855) and Caroline (1819–1871). Both Caroline and Barclay Fox's journals have been published. Robert Were Fox the Younger died on 25 July 1877 and was buried at the Quaker Burial Ground at Budock.

Business interests Fox was involved in many aspects of his family's businesses, along with several of his brothers. He also served as Honorary Consul of the USA in Falmouth from 1819 to 1854. Fox and Joel Lean were granted a patent in 1812 for their modifications of steam engines. The grant of patent was described thus: Specification of the Patent granted to Robert Were Fox and Joel Lean, of Budock, near Falmouth; for certain Improvements on Steam Engines, and the Apparatus needful or expedient to be used with the same.

Horticultural interests Fox's gardens at Rosehill and Penjerrick, near Falmouth, became noted for the number of exotic plants which he and his son, Barclay, had naturalised. Both are now both open to the public.

Scientific work

Fox's work was in what today would be referred to as geophysics. He was distinguished for his researches on the internal temperature of the Earth, contributing papers to the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall, and being the first to prove that temperature definitely increases with depth (the geothermal gradient), his observations being conducted in Cornish mines from 1815 for a period of forty years. In 1829 he began a set of experiments on the artificial production of miniature metalliferous veins by means of the long-continued influence of electric currents, and his main results were published in 1836. In 1834 Fox constructed an improved form of deflector dipping needle compass, or dip circle, for polar navigation. One was used by Sir James Clark Ross on his Antarctic expedition and used to discover the position of the South magnetic pole. He was a key person in the development of the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society and its promotion of scientific research and training. He was an active member of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. On 2 June 1838 Fox was elected a member of the newly-formed London Electrical Society Robert Were Fox, his cousin, George Croker Fox (1784–1850) and brother, Alfred Fox, assembled excellent collections of minerals, which are now in the British Museum, given by Arthur Russell.

Honours and activities Fellow of the Royal Society (Elected 9 September 1848) The Society owns a collection of letters addressed to Fox and his family.

Selected writings The following is a very incomplete list of Fox's writings. According to the Dictionary of National Biography (1889), Fox authored 52 scientific papers.

Notes

References "Mining schools and Institutes". Cornish Mining World Heritage Site. 2007. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Crook, Denise (2004). "Fox, Robert Were (1789–1877)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/10042. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)The first edition of this text is available at Wikisource: "Fox, Robert Were" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900. "Dorking: Bury Hill and the Barclays". Exploring Surrey's Past. 9 February 2009. Retrieved 21 December 2016. – Information on Bury Hill, Maria Fox's parental home Embery, P.G.; Symes, R.F. (1987). Minerals of Cornwall and Devon. British Museum (Natural History). ISBN 978-0-565-01046-1., Paperback ISBN 0-565-00989-3 Falconer, William, ed. (1830). "Dipping Needle". A New and Universal Dictionary of the Marine (improved and modernised ed.). pp. 122, 123 and Plate IX, Figure 11. Fox, Robert Were; Lean, Joel (1813). "Specifications of the patent granted to Robert Were Fox and Joel Lean ...for certain Improvements on Steam Engines…". The Repertory of Arts and Manufactures, Arts, Manufactures and Agriculture. 23: 200–204. Retrieved 14 September 2008. Fox, Robert Were (1836). "Observations on Mineral Veins". Reports of the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society. Printed by J. Trathan. Retrieved 8 December 2007. Fox, Robert Wear (January 1837). "Experiments Illustrative of the Influence of Voltaic Electricity on Copper Pyrites". The Annals of Electricity, Magnetism, and Chemistry. 1: 133–134. Retrieved 8 December 2007. Harrison, William Jerome (1889). "Fox, Robert Were" . In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 20. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 113. Payton, Philip (2004). "Fox, Robert Were (1754–1818)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/42083. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.) "Sandra & George Pritchard's Fox Rosehill Garden website". Tripod. 1 January 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2016. "Barclay, Perkins & Co". Westcott Local History Group Annual Report for 2004: 17–22.. This unsigned article tells the history of the family of Robert Barclay (1751–1830), the Anchor Brewery, Southwark, which brought them wealth and their home, Bury Hill, Westcott, a village to the West of Dorking. Attribution

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Fox, Robert Were". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Illustrations

Robert Were Fox the Younger: Experimental apparatus of Fox[6] — Experimental apparatus of Fox[6]

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Robert Were Fox the Younger

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Robert Were Fox the Younger 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 Robert Were Fox the Younger 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 Robert Were Fox the Younger 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 Robert Were Fox the Younger

In research: Robert Were Fox the Younger 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 Robert Were Fox the Younger 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: Robert Were Fox the Younger is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1789 births, 1877 deaths, British Quakers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Robert Were Fox the Younger 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.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Robert Were Fox the Younger” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Robert Were Fox the Younger in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Robert Were Fox the Younger in simple terms?

Why does Robert Were Fox the Younger 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 Robert Were Fox the Younger?

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 Robert Were Fox the Younger.