astronomy

William J. Breed

William J. Breed 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 William J. Breed rather than just read about it. In short: William J. "Bill" Breed (August 3, 1928 – January 22, 2013) was an American geologist, paleontologist, naturalist and author in Northern Arizona. He was a renowned expert on the geology of the Grand Canyon.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

William J. "Bill" Breed (August 3, 1928 – January 22, 2013) was an American geologist, paleontologist, naturalist and author in Northern Arizona. He was a renowned expert on the geology of the Grand Canyon.

Personal life William J. Breed was born August 3, 1928, in Massillon, Ohio, son of Grace Amelia (née Snyder) and Earl Fremont Breed. After graduating from Massillon Washington High School, he served in the U.S. Army Corps of Military Police in South Korea and Japan (1946–48). He received his B.A. from Denison University, then his B.S. and M.S. from University of Arizona, finishing in 1960. He married Carol S. Breed daughter of James Neilson (director) and Mrs. Ruth Swope (née Rogers) in 1965. The couple had one daughter, Amelia, who joined the family of four girls (Linda, Laura, Grace, Pamela) from Carol's first marriage. Upon his death in 2013 he was buried at the Grand Canyon Pioneer Cemetery.

Career Bill Breed was a Fulbright Scholar at Canterbury University in Christchurch, New Zealand to study geomorphology in 1957–58. Bill Breed was a protégé of Edwin D. McKee. Breed was Curator of Geology (1960–78), Head, Geology Department (1978–81) at the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff, Arizona. In 1969, Breed and Edwin H. Colbert were two of the four vertebrate paleontologists in Antarctica who helped solidify the acceptance of continental drift theory, by finding a 220-million-year-old fossil of a Lystrosaurus. In the 1970s, Breed completed numerous publications on the Grand Canyon, including a geologic cross section map of the Grand Canyon, San Francisco Peaks and Verde Valley; and the book, Geology of the Grand Canyon. A species of Dilophosaurus, (D. breedorum), discovered by Sam Welles in Arizona in 1964 was named after William J. Breed and his wife at the time Carol S. Breed. This name came out in a private publication distributed by Pickering, but has not been accepted in other reviews of the genus. After leaving the Museum of Northern Arizona in 1981, Breed became a naturalist guide for Nature Expeditions International and Betchart Expeditions leading trips to Alaska, New Zealand, Galapagos, Namibia, and Australia. He became Curator Emeritus of the Museum of Northern Arizona in 2004. In January 2013, shortly before his death, Breed was named a Distinguished Fellow of the Museum of Northern Arizona. Breed was an active environmentalist with Ted Danson and many others.

Awards Fellow of the Geological Society of America, the A.A.A.S, the Arizona Academy of Science, and the Museum of Northern Arizona. National Science Foundation – Antarctic Service Medal (1977) Geological Society of America – Gladys Cole Award (1982) Distinguished Citizen Award from Massillon Washington High School in 2005.

Publications Breed wrote or contributed to more than 80 scientific publications and popular magazines.

1964: "Metacoceras bowmani, a new species of Nautiloid from the Toroweap Formation (Permian) of Arizona," Journal of Paleontology; v. 38, No. 5, pp. 877–880 (with Halsey W. Miller Jr) 1965: "An exotic occurrence of fresh water drum fish," Plateau v. 37, No. 3, p. 5. 1967: "Evolution of the Colorado River in Arizona" 'Museum of Northern Arizona Bulletin' #44, pp. 67 (with Edwin D. McKee, R.F. Wilson, and Carol S. Breed.) 1969: "A Pliocene river channel near Doney Crater, Arizona" Journal of Arizona Academy of Sciences, vol. 5, No. 3, pp. 177–181. 1969: "The Chuar Group of the Grand Canyon, Arizona." Geological Society of America Rocky Mountain Section, Abstracts with Programs, May 7–11, 1969, pp. 23–24. (with Trevor D. Ford) 1970: "Hopi Pahos at the South Pole" Plateau V. 42, No. 4, pp. 125 1970: "Triassic Tetrapods from Antarctica: Evidence of Continental Drift" Science V. 169, No. 3951, pp. 1197–1201 (with David H Elliot, Edwin H. Colbert, James Jensen and Jon S. Powell) 1971: "Last Chance for Rainbow Bridge?" Outdoor Arizona, pp. 38–41 1974: Geology of the Grand Canyon, by William J. Breed and Evelyn C. Roat 1974: "Red Mountain, Erosion or Explosion," Plateau, Vol. 46, No. 3, pp. 120–122. 1975: Geologic Cross Section of the Grand Canyon – San Francisco Peaks – Verde Valley Region Zion Natural History Association, Springdale, Utah 1976: "Our "Unchanging" Grand Canyon", Arizona Highways, Vol. 52, No. 5, pp. 12–15. 1977: "Chitinozoans from the Late Precambrian Chuar Group of the Grand Canyon, Arizona" Science, Vol. 195, No. 4279, pp. 676–679 (with Bonnie Bloeser, Wiliam J. Schopf and Robert J. Horodyski)

References

External links and references Arizona Daily Sun, January 24, 2013, A2 Today's Arizona Daily Sun Obituaries Newsweek: My Favorite Mistake William J. Breed at Find a Grave

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with William J. Breed

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what William J. Breed 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 William J. Breed 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 J. Breed 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 J. Breed

In research: William J. Breed 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 William J. Breed 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 J. Breed is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1928 births, 2013 deaths, American expatriates in Japan, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for William J. Breed 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 J. Breed in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is William J. Breed in simple terms?

Why does William J. Breed 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 William J. Breed?

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 J. Breed.