earth science

William John McGee

William John McGee 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 John McGee rather than just read about it. In short: William John McGee, LL.D. (April 17, 1853 – September 4, 1912) was an American inventor, geologist, anthropologist, and ethnologist, born in Farley, Iowa.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

William John McGee, LL.D. (April 17, 1853 – September 4, 1912) was an American inventor, geologist, anthropologist, and ethnologist, born in Farley, Iowa. He always referred to himself as W J McGee, without periods.

Biography While largely self-taught, McGee attended a rural one-room schoolhouse north of Farley during the four winter months from about 1858 to 1867. He devoted his early years to reading law and to surveying. He invented and patented several improvements on agricultural implements. He subsequently turned his attention to geology. In 1877–1881, he executed a topographic and geological survey of 17,000 square miles (44,030 km2) in northeastern Iowa. He then undertook an examination of the loess of the Mississippi Valley, researched the great Quaternary lakes of Nevada and California and studied a recent fault movement in the middle Atlantic slope. He was appointed geologist for the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in 1881. In 1884 McGee authored the article Map of the United States exhibiting the present status of knowledge relating to the areal distribution of geologic groups for the USGS Journal. While with the USGS, McGee travelled to Charleston, South Carolina, in 1886 for the purpose of studying the earthquake disturbances in its vicinity. McGee was ethnologist in charge of the Bureau of American Ethnology from 1893 to 1903. In 1895, he explored the Isla del Tiburón, Gulf of California, home of the Seri Indians. In 1904 he was chief of the department of anthropology that organized the "Anthropology Days" at the 1904 Summer Olympics / Louisiana Purchase Exposition, the 1904 World's Fair. In 1907 he was appointed a member of the Inland Waterways Commission by President Roosevelt. His other prominent positions were: acting president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1897–1898); president of the American Anthropological Association (1902–1912); and president of the National Geographic Society (1904–1905). McGee was also a founding member of the Geological Society of America and was the first editor of The Geological Society of America Bulletin, in 1890. Married to Anita Newcomb McGee in 1888, McGee had three children. He died in Washington, D.C., of cancer on September 4, 1912. Mount McGee in California is named in his honor.

Works

His publications include:

The Geology of Chesapeake Bay (1888) The Pleistocene History of Northeastern Iowa (1889) The Siouan Indians (1895) Primitive Trephining (1897) The Seri Indians (1899) Primitive Numbers (1901) Soil Erosion (1911) Wells and Subsoil Water (1913)

References

Further reading Bates, J. Leonard, "Fulfilling American Democracy: The Conservation Movement, 1907 to 1921" Mississippi Valley Historical Review (1957) 44#1 pp. 29–57 online Cross, Whitney R. "W J McGee and the Idea of Conservation." Historian (1953) 15:148-62. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6563.1953.tb00145.x Darton, N. H. "Memoir of W J McGee." Annals of the Association of American Geographers (1913) 3: 103–10. Hinsley, Curtis M. Jr. Savages and Scientists: The Smithsonian Institution and the Development of American Anthropology, 1846-1910 (Smithsonian Institution Press 1981) HINSLEY, CURTIS MATTHEW, JR. "THE DEVELOPMENT OF A PROFESSION: ANTHROPOLOGY IN WASHINGTON, D.C., 1846-1903." (PhD dissertation, The University of Wisconsin - Madison; ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1976. 7618882). Hodge, Frederick Webb. "W J McGee." American Anthropologist (1913) 14: 683–86. Knowlton, F. J. "Memoir of W J McGee." Bulletin of the Geological Society of America (1912) 24: 18–29.

External links Media related to William John McGee at Wikimedia Commons Works by William John McGee at Project Gutenberg Works by or about William John McGee at the Internet Archive Works by William John McGee at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with William John McGee

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what William John McGee 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 John McGee 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 John McGee 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 John McGee

In research: William John McGee 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 John McGee 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 John McGee is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1853 births, 1912 deaths, 19th-century American explorers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for William John McGee 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 John McGee in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is William John McGee in simple terms?

William John McGee, LL.D. (April 17, 1853 – September 4, 1912) was an American inventor, geologist, anthropologist, and ethnologist, born in Farley, Iowa.

Why does William John McGee 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 John McGee?

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 John McGee.