astronomy

Thomas C. Hanks

Thomas C. Hanks 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 Thomas C. Hanks rather than just read about it. In short: Thomas Colgrove Hanks (November 29, 1944 – March 5, 2024) was an American seismologist. He worked for the US Geological Survey (USGS) in Menlo Park, California.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Thomas Colgrove Hanks (November 29, 1944 – March 5, 2024) was an American seismologist. He worked for the US Geological Survey (USGS) in Menlo Park, California. Dr. Hanks was a member of the Seismological Society of America, the American Geophysical Union, the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, the Geological Society of America, the Peninsula Geological Society at Stanford, and many related geological societies. Dr. Hanks authored dozens of scholarly papers in strong-motion seismology and tectonic geomorphology. Hanks was born in Washington DC, the middle of three sons. Hanks graduated with a B.S.E. in geological engineering from Princeton University in 1966 after completing a senior thesis titled "The meaning of a heat flow experiment on Mars." He later received his PhD from the California Institute of Technology in 1972 after completing a dissertation titled "A Contribution to the Determination and Interpretation of Seismic Source Parameters". In 1979 the Japanese-American seismologist Hiroo Kanamori, professor of seismology at the California Institute of Technology and Dr. Hanks suggested the use of moment magnitude scale to replace the Richter magnitude scale for measuring the relative strength of earthquakes. The reason was that the Richter scale saturates at magnitudes greater than about 5.5, while the Moment magnitude scale does not saturate. On March 5, 2024, Dr Hanks died from a stroke after battling prostate cancer. A scientific symposium celebrating his life was held by the USGS at the Ames NASA Research Center in October 2024.

References

Further reading Minson, Sarah E.; Baltay, Annemarie S.; Cochran, Elizabeth S.; Nevitt, Johanna M.; Hickman, Stephen H.; Thatcher, Wayne R.; Baker, Jack W.; Diggles, Michael F. (2025). "Tom Hanks—A Remembrance". Seismological Research Letters. 96 (1): 7–8. doi:10.1785/0220240332. ISSN 0895-0695.

External links "Quake Watcher" Princeton Alumni News profile on Hanks

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Thomas C. Hanks

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Thomas C. Hanks 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 Thomas C. Hanks 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 Thomas C. Hanks 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 Thomas C. Hanks

In research: Thomas C. Hanks 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 Thomas C. Hanks 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: Thomas C. Hanks is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1944 births, 2024 deaths, American geologist stubs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Thomas C. Hanks 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 Thomas C. Hanks in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Thomas C. Hanks in simple terms?

Thomas Colgrove Hanks (November 29, 1944 – March 5, 2024) was an American seismologist. He worked for the US Geological Survey (USGS) in Menlo Park, California.

Why does Thomas C. Hanks 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 Thomas C. Hanks?

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 Thomas C. Hanks.