earth science

Woodwardian Professor of Geology

Woodwardian Professor of Geology 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 Woodwardian Professor of Geology rather than just read about it. In short: The Woodwardian Professor of Geology is a professorship held in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge. It was founded by John Woodward in 1728 under the title of Professor of Fossils.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

The Woodwardian Professor of Geology is a professorship held in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge. It was founded by John Woodward in 1728 under the title of Professor of Fossils. Woodward's will left to the University a large collection of fossils and also dictated that the professor should be elected by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of Ely, the President of the Royal Society, the President of the Royal College of Physicians, the Member of Parliament for the University of Cambridge, and the University Senate. Woodward's will directed that the person appointed would be paid £100 a year to read at least four lectures a year on a subject treated in his "Natural History of the Earth" and that they would look after Woodward's collection and catalogues. The Woodwardian Professors of the eighteenth century were not expected to teach but were expected to make themselves available for discussion with friends, visitors and students on a casual, personal basis. Sedgwick and his predecessors were all appointed under the terms of Woodward's original bequest. Before Sedgwick's appointment, geology was not taught in any systematic way at Cambridge and the office had been almost a sinecure. From Sedgwick's time the Woodwardian Professorship became a highly respected Chair of geology.

Incumbents of the Woodwardian Professorship of Geology Conyers Middleton, 1731 Charles Mason, 1734 (died 1770 and described on his tomb in Orwell church as "Woodwardian Professor of Fossils") John Michell, 1762 Samuel Ogden, 1764 Thomas Green, 1778 John Hailstone, 1788 Adam Sedgwick, 1818 Thomas McKenny Hughes, 1873 John Edward Marr, 1917 Owen Thomas Jones, 1930 William Bernard Robinson King, 1943 Oliver Meredith Boone Bulman, 1955 Harry Blackmore Whittington, 1966-1983 Ian Nicholas McCave, 1985-2008 David A. Hodell, 2008-

See also List of Professorships at the University of Cambridge

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Woodwardian Professor of Geology

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Woodwardian Professor of Geology 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 Woodwardian Professor of Geology 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 Woodwardian Professor of Geology 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 Woodwardian Professor of Geology

In research: Woodwardian Professor of Geology 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 Woodwardian Professor of Geology 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: Woodwardian Professor of Geology is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1728 establishments in England, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Professorships at the University of Cambridge, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Woodwardian Professor of Geology 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 Woodwardian Professor of Geology in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Woodwardian Professor of Geology in simple terms?

Why does Woodwardian Professor of Geology 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 Woodwardian Professor of Geology?

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 Woodwardian Professor of Geology.