earth science

The Mystery of the Sphinx

The Mystery of the Sphinx 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 The Mystery of the Sphinx rather than just read about it. In short: The Mystery of the Sphinx is a 1993 television documentary about the Great Sphinx of Giza, with a central focus being the conflict of egyptologists against a number of modern geology and oftentimes fringe theory proponents of the Sphinx water erosion hypothesis. Charlton Heston is the host of the documentary, which features John Anthony West and geologist Robert M.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

The Mystery of the Sphinx is a 1993 television documentary about the Great Sphinx of Giza, with a central focus being the conflict of egyptologists against a number of modern geology and oftentimes fringe theory proponents of the Sphinx water erosion hypothesis. Charlton Heston is the host of the documentary, which features John Anthony West and geologist Robert M. Schoch.

Release

Television The documentary was first aired by NBC as an hour long prime time special on 10 November 1993. It reached an estimated audience of 33 million. It was subsequently shown repeatedly on TLC and the Discovery Channel over the next decade.

Home media Mystery was initially released by Goldhil Home Media as a 95-minute "extended version" on VHS in 1994, and re-released on DVD by UFOTV as a 95-minute "Special Edition" in 2005.

Reception The VHS release was described in a 1994 review as "a fascinating combination of science and humbug." Robert M. Schoch criticized the extended version of the documentary, saying "Unfortunately, the original documentary has since been re-edited and expanded with all sorts of extraneous material, some of which I am not at all happy about, and is currently being marketed by 'UFO TV'. It still contains the core material and is worth watching, but when you do so, please disregard the nonsense 'filler' that was inserted into an otherwise great show."

Accolades John Anthony West received a News & Documentary Emmy Award in the "Outstanding Individual Achievement in a Craft: Researchers" category for the program on 8 September 1994. The documentary also received a nomination in the "Special Classification for Outstanding News and Documentary Program Achievement" category.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with The Mystery of the Sphinx

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what The Mystery of the Sphinx 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 The Mystery of the Sphinx 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 The Mystery of the Sphinx 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 The Mystery of the Sphinx

In research: The Mystery of the Sphinx 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 The Mystery of the Sphinx 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: The Mystery of the Sphinx is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1993 documentary films, 1993 films, Documentaries about geology, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for The Mystery of the Sphinx 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 The Mystery of the Sphinx in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is The Mystery of the Sphinx in simple terms?

Why does The Mystery of the Sphinx 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 The Mystery of the Sphinx?

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 The Mystery of the Sphinx.