earth science

William Back (geologist)

William Back (geologist) 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 William Back (geologist) rather than just read about it. In short: William “Bill” Back (August 9, 1925 – January 31, 2008) was an American hydrogeologist and geochemist. He made significant contributions to the study of ground water geochemistry, karst hydrogeology, and the evolution of carbonate aquifers.

Key takeaways

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Reference excerpt

William “Bill” Back (August 9, 1925 – January 31, 2008) was an American hydrogeologist and geochemist. He made significant contributions to the study of ground water geochemistry, karst hydrogeology, and the evolution of carbonate aquifers. He was a scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) from 1946 to 1997.

Early life and education Back was born on August 9, 1925, in East St. Louis, Illinois. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in geology in 1948 from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He later completed a Master of Science in geology at the University of California, Berkeley in 1955 and received a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University in 1956. In 1969, he earned a Ph.D. in hydrogeology from the University of Nevada, Reno under the direction of George Burke Maxey, co-founder of the hydrogeology division of the Geological Society of America. His thesis studied the carbonate hydrogeology of the Florida peninsula and the Yucatán Peninsula.

Career Back began working with the U.S. Geological Survey in 1946 while still an undergraduate, holding summer appointments in Washington, California, and Alaska. He was a scientist on the National Research Program in hydrologic sciences at USGS headquarters in Reston, Virginia until his retirement in 1997. His influential early research focused on hydrochemical facies, advancing the concept of interpreting groundwater chemistry by mapping its evolution along flowpaths. He became especially known for his work on carbonate aquifer systems and karst hydrogeology, collaborating extensively with Bruce B. Hanshaw and other geologists. Their investigations in Florida, Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, and the Iberian Peninsula studied groundwater flow, chemical thermodynamics, radiocarbon dating, and geochemical modeling. Back and Hanshaw received the Meinzer Award in 1973 for their work on carbonate systems. Back also contributed to research on contaminated aquifers, North American hydrogeology, and the effects of water resources on Native American communities. He served as an adjunct faculty member at George Washington University from 1975 to 1986. Internationally, Back was active in the International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH), serving as chairman of its Karst Commission. He helped foster scientific exchange between hydrogeologists in the Western world and China. In 1981 he participated in establishing a cooperative agreement between the USGS and China's Ministry of Natural Resources, and he played a significant role in international collaboration leading up to the 1988 IAH Congress in Guilin, China. He was also appointed to the UNESCO Food and Agriculture Organization, the United Nations Development Programme, and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Back was a fellow of the Geological Society of America (GSA), where he led the hydrogeology division and served as division secretary and treasurer from 1964 to 1966 and later as chair in 1986. In 2008, the division established the Bill Back Graduate Student Research Award in his honor.

Personal life Back was married to Connie Back for 57 years. They had four children.

Awards Meinzer Award (1973) Birdsall-Dreiss Distinguished Lectureship (1979) Meritorious Service Award, U.S. Department of the Interior (1982) Distinguished Service Award, U.S. Department of the Interior (1987) Distinguished Service Award, Geological Society of America (1988) M. King Hubbert Award (1995) Charles V. Theis Award (1997)

Books Contemporary Hydrogeology: The George Burke Maxey Memorial Volume. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1979. ISBN 978-0444418566 {{isbn}}: Check isbn value: checksum (help) Hydrogeology: The Geology of North America. Boulder, Colorado: Geological Society of America, 1988. ISBN 978-0-8137-5206-8 Chemical Hydrogeology (Benchmark Papers in Geology, Vol. 73). Van Nostrand Reinhold Co, 1992. ISBN 978-0-87933-440-6

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with William Back (geologist)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what William Back (geologist) 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 William Back (geologist) 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 William Back (geologist) 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 William Back (geologist)

In research: William Back (geologist) 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 William Back (geologist) 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: William Back (geologist) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1925 births, 2008 deaths, 20th-century American geologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for William Back (geologist) 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 William Back (geologist) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what William Back (geologist) 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.
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Frequently asked questions

What is William Back (geologist) in simple terms?

Why does William Back (geologist) 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 William Back (geologist)?

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 William Back (geologist).