Who Invented the Modern
Seismograph For Earthquake Detection?
John Milne was the English
seismologist and geologist who invented the first modern seismograph and
promoted the building of seismological stations. In 1880, Sir James
Alfred Ewing, Thomas Gray and John Milne, all British scientists working
in Japan, began to study earthquakes. They founded the Seismological Society
of Japan and the society funded the invention of seismographs to detect and
measure earthquakes. John Milne invented
the horizontal pendulum seismograph in 1880.
The horizontal pendulum seismograph was improved after World War II with the Press-Ewing seismograph, developed in the United States for recording long-period waves. It is widely used throughout the world today. The Press-Ewing seismograph uses a Milne pendulum, but the pivot supporting the pendulum is replaced by an elastic wire to avoid friction.
John Milne (1850-1913)
John
Milne - Biographical Sketch
John Milne was, perhaps, the greatest
individual contributor to observational earthquake investigations of all
time. He was an English geologist and mining engineer, but his earthquake
investigations were largely, especially in early years, carried out in
Japan. In the early 1890s, John Milne developed with colleagues the first
accurate seismograph, an instrument used to record ground shaking, a frequent
and sometimes devastating occurrence in Japan
Earthquake
Milne - 1850-1913
'Earthquake' Milne' was the nickname
given to Professor John Milne, the father of seismology, who, after his
return from Japan in 1895, lived and worked for many years at Shide Hill
House on the outskirts of Newport. The observatory he established there
became the world center for earthquake science.
Sir James Alfred Ewing (1855–1935)
Professor
Sir James Alfred Ewing recieved a degree in engineering
at Edinburgh University and then became Professor
of Mechanical Engineering at the new University of Tokyo. There that he carried out research into earthquakes, which were frequent
in Japan, and devised a new type of seismometer for earthquake measurement.
Sir
James Alfred Ewing
He was one of the first Europeans
to study earthquakes in Japan.
Charles Richter and the Richter Scale
Charles
Richter Invented The Richter Scale
The Richter Scale was developed in 1935 by Charles Richter of the California Institute
of Technology as a mathematical device to compare the sizes of earthquakes.
Seismograph
John Milne was the English seismologist
and geologist who invented the first modern seismograph and promoted the
building of seismological stations for earthquake study.
The
Early History of Seismometry
This is an excellent full history of the seismograph and earthquake
detection.
Websites on Earthquakes and Seismology
Seismology
Places to explore the science of
earthquakes from your About Guide to geology.
Strange
Seismometers
A seismometer can be as simple as
a rock just standing there, from your About Guide to geology.
Measuring
the Big One
What is the biggest earthquake?
That is not such a simple question, and earthquake scales have had a history
as long as seismology itself, from your About Guide to geology.
The
Men and Women of Seismology
How
does a seismograph work? What is the Richter Scale?
Seismograph
Early seismographs only measured
a small part of the broad band of wave sizes and frequencies that earthquakes
emit.
