astronomy

Siemon Muller

Siemon Muller 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 Siemon Muller rather than just read about it. In short: Siemon William Muller (May 9, 1900 – September 9, 1970) was an American paleontologist and geologist, known for his studies on Triassic paleontology and stratigraphy, and for his work on permafrost. Siemon Muller was born in Blagoveshchensk on May 9, 1900 (Muller's father Wilhelm had moved from Denmark to Russia to work on the trans-Siberian telegraph line and later became a teacher).

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Siemon William Muller (May 9, 1900 – September 9, 1970) was an American paleontologist and geologist, known for his studies on Triassic paleontology and stratigraphy, and for his work on permafrost. Siemon Muller was born in Blagoveshchensk on May 9, 1900 (Muller's father Wilhelm had moved from Denmark to Russia to work on the trans-Siberian telegraph line and later became a teacher). Siemon attended the Russian Naval Academy until the Russian Revolution overtook the nation, when he moved to Shanghai to work with an American company. He sailed to the United States in 1921, and enrolled at the University of Oregon, where he studied geology. He graduated in 1927, and married Vera Vilamovsky the next year. Muller earned his master's degree from Stanford University in 1929, and his doctorate in 1930, studying Mesozoic ammonite fauna in the Pilot Mountains of Nevada under the direction of James Perrin Smith. Muller began teaching as an instructor at Stanford while still a graduate student. He was named an assistant professor in 1930, was promoted to associate professor in 1936 (the year of his election as fellow of the Geological Society of America), and became full professor in 1941. In 1928, Muller made an initial identification of the ichthyosaur fossils found near Berlin, Nevada, although full excavations were not done until much later. Before and after World War II, Muller worked extensively with Henry G. Ferguson doing geological mapping in west-central Nevada (along with Ralph Roberts and Stanley H. Cathcart); this resulted in the publication of seven USGS geology quadrangle maps between 1951 and 1954. During World War II, Muller worked for the USGS Military Geology Unit, where he studied frozen terrains such as Alaska; his Russian language skills enabled him to read the extensive Russian scientific literature on the subject. Muller is generally credited with coining the word "permafrost".

In 1976, Muller Mountain in Mineral County, Nevada, was named after Siemon Muller to commemorate his work in the area. Upon Muller's retirement from Stanford in 1965, he was granted emeritus status. On September 9, 1970, he died quietly in his sleep at the Stanford campus.

Selected publications Muller, SW (1936). "Triassic Coral Reefs in Nevada". American Journal of Science. 31 (183): 202–208. Bibcode:1936AmJS...31..202M. doi:10.2475/ajs.s5-31.183.202. Muller, SW; Ferguson, HG (1936). "Triassic and Jurassic Formations of West-Central Nevada". Geological Society of America Bulletin. 47 (2): 241–251. doi:10.1130/GSAB-47-241. Muller, SW; Ferguson, HG (1939). "Mesozoic Stratigraphy of the Hawthorne and Tonopah Quadrangles, Nevada". Geological Society of America Bulletin. 50 (210): 1573–1624. Bibcode:1939GSAB...50.1573M. doi:10.1130/GSAB-50-1573. Muller, SW (1945). Permafrost or permanently frozen ground and related engineering problems (Strategic engineering study, Special Report #62). US Army Engineers (reprinted 1947 by JW Edwards, Ann Arbor, MI). Ferguson, HG; Muller, SW (1949). Structural Geology of the Hawthorne and Tonopah Quadrangles, Nevada (USGS Professional Paper #216 (PDF). United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2019-08-16. Ferguson, HG; Muller, SW; Cathcart, SH (1953). Geology of the Coaldale Quadrangle, Nevada (US Geological Survey Quadrangle Map GQ23). United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2019-08-16. Muller, SW (2008). French, Hugh; Nelson, Frederick (eds.). Permafrost and Engineering Problems. American Society of Civil Engineers.

References

Further reading Silberling, Norman John (2007). "Overview of field trips: Triassic biostratigraphy of northwestern Nevada (or: "In the Footsteps of 'Si' Muller") (pp. 3–4)" (PDF). In Lucas, Spencer G.; Spielmann, Justin A. (eds.). Triassic of the American West. Bulletin 40. Albuquerque, New Mexico: New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. = [1].

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Siemon Muller

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Siemon Muller 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 Siemon Muller 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 Siemon Muller 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 Siemon Muller

In research: Siemon Muller 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 Siemon Muller 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: Siemon Muller is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1900 births, 1970 deaths, 20th-century American geologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Siemon Muller 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.

Affiliate

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

How to study Siemon Muller in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Siemon Muller in simple terms?

Why does Siemon Muller 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 Siemon Muller?

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 Siemon Muller.