science

Virginia Morell

Virginia Morell is a 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 Virginia Morell rather than just read about it. In short: Virginia Morell (born 1949) is an American science writer. She is the author of several books, and is a contributor to National Geographic and Science, among other publications.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Virginia Morell (born 1949) is an American science writer. She is the author of several books, and is a contributor to National Geographic and Science, among other publications.

Early life and education Morell was born in 1949. She attended Pomona College, graduating in 1971. She specializes in animal behavior, cognition and conservation. Morrell resides in Oregon with her husband Michael McRae.

Career Morell's book Ancestral Passions, a biography about the Leakey family, was positively reviewed as a scholarly work. Morrell authored Animal Wise: The Thoughts and Emotions of Our Fellow Creatures, which was named by Kirkus Reviews as one of the Best Books of 2013 on Nature and the Environment. The book documents research on animal cognition that reveals the mental and emotional lives of animals including ants, dogs, elephants, fish and parrots. Liza Gross who reviewed the book for KQED commented that "Morell obliterates the lines that might separate us from the rest of the animal kingdom by relating trailblazing discoveries of the emotional and intellectual lives of animals. In the process, she challenges us to rethink our ethical obligations to the creatures who share our world." It was a New York Times Bestseller.

Selected publications

Books Ancestral Passions: The Leakey Family and the Quest for Humankind's Beginnings (1995) Blue Nile: Ethiopia's River of Magic and Mystery (2001) Wildlife Wars: My Fight to Save Africa's Natural Treasures (2001: co-authored with Richard Leakey) Inside Animal Minds: The New Science of Animal Intelligence (2012) Animal Wise: The Thoughts and Emotions of Our Fellow Creatures (2013) Becoming a Marine Biologist (2019)

Articles "The killer cat virus that doesn't kill cats". Discover. 16 (7): 62–69. July 1995. ———————

Notes

References

External links A Q&A with Virginia Morell, author of Animal Wise

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Virginia Morell

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Virginia Morell claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In 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 Virginia Morell 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 Virginia Morell 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 Virginia Morell

In research: Virginia Morell appears in 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 Virginia Morell 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: Virginia Morell is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1949 births, 20th-century American women writers, 21st-century American women writers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Virginia Morell 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 Virginia Morell in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Virginia Morell in simple terms?

Virginia Morell (born 1949) is an American science writer. She is the author of several books, and is a contributor to National Geographic and Science, among other publications.

Why does Virginia Morell matter?

Because it connects several 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 Virginia Morell?

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 Virginia Morell.