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BENO GUTENBERG
June 4, 1889-January 25, 1960
BY LEON KNOPOFF
BENO GUTENBERG WAS THE foremost observational seismolo-
gist of the twentieth century. He combiner! exquisite
analysis of seismic records with powerful analytical, inter-
pretive, en c! mocleling skills to contribute many important
discoveries of the structure of the solic! Earth en c! its atmo-
sphere. Perhaps his best known contribution was the pre-
cise location of the core of the Earth en c! the identification
of its elastic properties. Other major contributions inclucle
the travel-time curves, the discovery of very long-perioc! seis-
mic waves with large amplitucles that circle the Earth, the
identification of differences in crustal structure between
continents en c! oceans, inclucling the discovery of a signifi-
cantly thin crust in the Pacific, the discovery of a low-veloc-
ity layer in the mantle (which he interpreter! as the zone of
clecoupling of horizontal motions of the surficial parts from
the creeper parts of the Earth), the creation of the magni-
tucle scale for earthquakes, the relation between magnitudes
en c! energies for earthquakes, the famous universal magni-
tucle-frequency relation for earthquake distributions, the first
density distribution for the mantle, the stucly of the tem-
perature distribution in the Earth, the unclerstancling of
microseisms, en c! the structure of the atmosphere.
115
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6
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
Beno Gutenberg was born in ISS9 in Darmstacit, Ger-
many, where his father own e c! a small soap factory. Beno
was the elclest of two sons, his brother Arthur was his junior
by four years. Both parents came from merchant families.
His father's ambition was that Beno wouIc! step into the
family business, as wouIc! his younger brother, but Beno
wanted to study science, having little interest in the busi-
ness. In the gymnasium he became involves! in the opera-
tion of the meteorological station, en c! this arouser! an in-
terest in weather forecasting en c! climatology, which lee! him
to undertake meteorological studies at the university.
In the summer of 1907 Gutenberg enterer! the Technische
HochschuTe in Darmstacit. He learner! that a course on in-
strumental observations of geophysical phenomena was be-
ing offerer! by Emil Wiechert at the Institute of Geophysics
of the University of Gottingen, en c! he mover! there in 1908.
Wiechert hac! a major reputation in both seismology en c!
electromagnetic theory. In the latter area, he is iclentifiec!
with the Lienard-Wiechert potential. He proposed that X
rays are electromagnetic waves, en c! from his measurement
of e/m for cathode rays, he was the first to announce that
cathode rays (electrons) are particles of subatomic mass
from 2,000 to 4,000 times less massive than the hydrogen
atom shortly before J. J. Thomson took the extra step of
identifying the mass precisely. Wiechert was the inventor of
a seismograph in wiclespreac! use in the first half of the
twentieth century, en c! he hac! stucliec! the problem of con-
structing the velocity structure of a spherical Earth from
travel-times of seismic impulses, having derived an integral
equation also iclentifiec! with the names of HergIotz en c!
Bateman. Wiechert had also inferred that the Earth must
have a central iron core.
The four students in Wiechert's course were introclucec!
into observational methods in meteorology, the handling
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BENO GUTENBERG
117
of seismographs en c! the reacting of seismograms, en c! the
determination of exact (astronomical) time. Gutenberg took
lectures from Wiechert on terrestrial magnetism, ticles, en c!
geodesy. He took lectures in physics, pure and applied math-
ematics, elasticity, algebra, en c! logic from Born, Hilbert,
Klein, E. Landau, Maclelung, Minkowski, PrancitI, Runge,
K. SchwarzschiTcI, Voigt, en c! WeyI. Gutenberg took a course
in geophysics to prepare better for his work in meteorology.
At the enc! of a course in seismology in Gutenberg's thirc!
year, Wiechert toic! him that he hac! progressed to the lim-
its of knowlecige in seismology en c! acivisec! him to start his
thesis research, Gutenberg selectee! a study of microseisms.
In 1910 Gutenberg macle a trip to the coast of Norway, en c!
was able to correlate surf in Norway with microseisms in
Gottingen. Microseisms are small disturbances, more or less
continuously recorclec! by sensitive seismometers, en c! form
the backgrounc! motion upon which earthquake recordings
are superimposed. As Gutenberg was later to discover, mi-
croseisms are mainly associates! with storms in the creep
oceans that are at times very distant from the recording
station, en c! less so with surf. Gutenberg's first publisher!
Caner, which was on microseisms, appearec! in ~ 9 ~ O.
Gutenberg was concernec! with the problems of microseisms
1- 1- '
even at the enc! of his career.
The possibilities of moclern instrumental seismology were
not recognizec! until the enc! of the nineteenth century.
IncleecI, the first recording of a distant earthquake was only
macle on February 25, ISS9. So the time was ripe in the
first decade of the twentieth century for a bright young
investigator to attack the problems of the seismic wave ve-
Tocity in the Earth's interior through the application of reacI-
ings of high quality instrumental ciata. Like many of the
prominent seismologists of the first half of the twentieth
century, Gutenberg took up the subject without previous
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8
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
intentions. He was attractor! by the opportunities for re-
search in a comparatively new subject.
One of Wiechert's assistants, Karl Zoppritz, hac! been con-
cernec! with the calculation of the reflection en c! transmis
sion coefficients of elastic waves. At about the time of
Gutenberg's arrival in Gottingen, Zoppritz cliec! of a mas-
sive infection at the age of twenty-seven. Wiechert passer!
along an unfinished! manuscript by Zoppritz on the relation
between the amplitucles of seismic waves en c! velocity varia-
tions at depth, with the recommendation that the paper be
finisher! by Gutenberg en c! Ludwig Geiger, who was Wiechert's
other assistant. This event openec! the floor to a series of
studies of the use of amplitucles of seismic waves to cleter-
mine the structure of the Earth, Gutenberg's interest in
amplitucles laster! throughout his career.
Two papers on amplitudes by Geiger and Gutenberg ap-
peared (1912) as part of the series "Uber Erdbenwellen" by
Wiechert en c! his students. The two papers presented new
results on the structure of the solid Earth determined from
the amplitucles en c! travel-times of seismic waves. Geiger
en c! Gutenberg attemptec! to determine the amplitucle-clis-
tance relation for P-waves, but there are enormous fluctua-
tions in the amplitucles from station to station, especially
because of differences in instrumentation en c! in the local
geology. Geiger en c! Gutenberg avoiclec! local influences by
taking the ratio of amplitudes of PP/P (i.e., of waves with
one bounce off the outer surface of the Earth to waves with
no bounce). They observer! a large increase in the ratio at
about 40° en c! 95°. The increase at 40° was attributer! to a
decrease in the amplitucle of P. as was to be cliscoverec!
later, the increase was actually clue to an increase in P at
20°, en c! hence of PP at 40°. An abrupt change of ampli-
tudes with distance is a strong indicator of inhomogeneity
in the velocity distribution at depth. Thus, Geiger and
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BENO GUTENBERG
119
Gutenberg inferred that there was a significant decrease in
the velocity gradient at a depth of about 1200 km in the
mantle, instead of the more appropriate sharp increase in
~ · , , , · , ~ , ~ ~ ~ A ~ ~ , A A ~ ~ ~1 ~
gradient starhng at a depth ot around 41() to 44() km. 'l'he~r
model had two additional discontinuous velocity gradients
at depths greater than 1200 km. The increases in ampli-
tudes at 20, called the 20 discontinuity, are today identi-
fied with two steps in the properties of the mantle at depths
around 410 km and 670 km. The decrease in velocity gradi-
ent at about 1200 km and the absence of a sharp increase
in velocity at shallower depths persisted in Gutenberg's models
to the end of his career (1958), although the depth of the
decrease was reduced to about 900 km in the later models.
Indeed, Gutenberg (1934) stated, "There is no indication
of a discontinuity in the mantle of the Earth at larger depths
(than 200 km) . . . and none corresponding to an epicen-
tral distance of about 20 " and again (1953), "There is no
evidence of a discontinuity in the mantle between the low-
velocity layer and a depth of about 900 km ...." Geiger
and Gutenberg correctly interpreted the second increase in
the ratio as due to a decrease in the amplitude of P. This
was the onset of the shadow zone due to the decrease in
seismic velocities in the core.
~.
In 1 9 1~ Gutenberg submitted his dissertation on mi-
croseisms entitled Die seismische Bodenunruhe (1912),
written under the supervision of Wiechert. The oral exami-
nation was held on May 3, 1911, and Gutenberg was awarded
the degree of doctor of philosophy valde laudabiti, with geo-
physics as his major and geometry and applied mathemat-
ics as minor subjects. Wiechert's citation read, "The author
has applied extraordinary diligence. About two million facts
are used! The discussions are carried out with much skill,
and the results are of considerable importance for science."
Gutenberg worked in a postdoctoral capacity at the Insti
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BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
lute of Geophysics at Gottingen cluring the year following
the aware! of his cloctoral degree. At that time he began his
famous work of the systematic stucly of seismic waves through
the interior of the Earth. From Gottingen recordings, he
observer! that the seismic phase P hac! an increase of am-
plitucles at a distance of about 143°. He extenclec! the range
of amplitucles to greater distances, which allowed! him to
interpret the shallow zone between 95° en c! 143° as cast by a
low-velocity core at great depth in the Earth and of consid-
erable contrast to the region above.
In 1897 Wiechert hac! proposer! that the Earth hac! an
iron core starting at a depth of about 1400 km, en c! in 1906
OIc~ham hac! interpreted seismographic ciata to propose that
the core began at a depth of about 3900 km. Gutenberg
calculated "the travel-times of waves to be reflected and
refractec! at the surface of the core, outsicle as well as in-
sicle", the waves refractec! at the core-mantle boundary are
the P or PKP phases, en c! the reflected! waves are the PcP
phases. Gutenberg cleterminec! the depth to the top of the
core as 2900 km from the surface. He establishec! that the
core has a sharp boundary and specified the values of the
P-wave velocities in the mantle en c! in the core (1914~.
To clo the calculation, Gutenberg clevelopec! new, accu-
rate travel-time curves for both P- and S-waves for distances
greater than 80°, which allowed him to determine the slope
with high accuracy. His velocity distribution for the mantle
was similar to the 1912 moclel. The precision of Gutenberg's
determination of the depth to the core is astounding en c!
would be so at any time. More than twenty years later,
Gutenberg en c! Richter (1936) user! the times of the reflec-
tions PcP from the upper surface of the core en c! clerivec!
the same depth to the core boundary. In 1939 HaroIc! Affrays,
using his powerful seismological en c! statistical skills in a
calculation with his own travel-time data, derived the result
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BENO GUTENBERG
121
2898 + 3 km, which is the value in common use tociay.
Affrays also verifier! that the core-mantle boundary was sharp.
Affrays notes! that, although his en c! Gutenberg's travel-
time curves agree within one second, the first derivatives
were significantly different, which was (anc! is) important,
since the ratio of raclius to velocity r/v for the ray whose
maximum penetration is to radius r is equal to the cleriva-
tive of the time-angular distance relation. After the monu-
mental discovery of the core, two major seismological plums
of creep-earth structure remainec! to be cliscoverecI, namely
Lehman's discovery of the inner core en c! Gutenberg's work
on the absence of S-phases in the core.
Gutenberg began a year of military service in October
1912. In October 1913 he starter! to work as a seismologist
with the title of scientific assistant at the Central Bureau of
the International Association of Seismology (IAS) at
Strassburg, working on microseisms, travel-time curves, en c!
the crustal structure of Europe. His work at Strassburg was
interruptec! by the outbreak of Woric! War I in August 1914
after only ten months on the job. He was quickly incluctec!
into the German army en c! servec! in the infantry. Almost
immecliately, Gutenberg was wounclec! in the heat! by a gre-
nacle (his helmet saver! his life). Upon recovery, he returnee!
to Strassburg, where he was assignee! to the training of of-
ficers. In 1916 he volunteerec! for the weather forecasting
service en c! was sent to the Central Station for Meteorology
near Berlin. Gutenberg shuttles! between the Russian, French,
en c! Beigian fronts as a meteorologist attacher! to the chemical
warfare engineers, having been assignee! the problem of
the prediction of the likelihood! of backwarc! cirift onto the
German soicliers of the poison gases that their own army
hac! releasecI. He was also assignee! the problem of mea-
surement of the location of cannons from the travel-times
of sounc! transmission, a problem of great similarity to that
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BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
of the location of earthquake sources. His later work on the
structure of the atmosphere (e.g., 1926, 1930) hac! its gen-
esis at this time.
During the war he spent as much time as possible at
Strassburg en c! worker! on routine interpretation of seismo-
grams at the Central Bureau in Strassburg uncler 0. Hecker.
The IAS en c! the Central Bureau were clissolvec! on March
3l, 1916, en c! Gutenberg became scientific assistant for the
Meteorological Service at the German Imperial Station for
Earthquake Research at the University of Strassburg. He
was concernec! with seismological problems cluring much
of the war, meteorological work permitting.
With the return of Alsace to France at the enc! of Woric!
War I, Gutenberg was unemployocI, en c! he returnee! to
Darmstacit. He was an applicant for his oIc! post at the now-
French seismic station in Strasbourg, but he was not suc-
cessful, even though he was soon to be the most famous
seismologist in Western Europe.
After the war, the German interior ministry placer! Gutenberg
in an earthquake research institute that was planner! for {ena,
but because of the chaos in postwar Germany, the institute
existed only on paper. In 1923 Hecker was appointed to the
{ena position, but the interior ministry couIc! not (or wouIc!
not) appoint Gutenberg. (Gutenberg received a letter of greeting
on the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of the Jena Insti-
tute aciciressec! to its long-time workers en c! colleagues that he
consiclerec! to be a "wry joke.")
Since he conic! not fine! a scientific position after the war,
Gutenberg worker! in his father's soap factory in Darmstacit
from ~ 9 1~ to ~ 930. Arthur hac! cliec! in the war in ~ 9 15 , en c!
Beno was under some pressure to help with the family busi-
ness. After his father's death in 1927, Beno took over the
factory. He met Hertha Dernburg at activities of Jewish sport-
ing and democratic clubs in Darmstadt. They were married
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BENO GUTENBERG
123
on August 14, 1919. Gutenberg continues! to be active in
local Jewish causes, en c! was a member en c! later president
of the local chapter of B'nai Brith.
From 1918 Gutenberg worked on geophysical problems
at his home in Darmstacit, when he hac! free time, mainly
cluring evenings en c! weekends. He user! seismographic re-
corclings that were obtainer! from the institute at Frank-
furt a long tram rifle away. He obtainer! recordings en c!
other information from other observatories by correspon-
clence. Starting in 1923, a stoutly stream of important pa-
pers began to appear from his study in Darmstacit. In Der
Aufbau derErde (1925) Gutenberg constructed! accurate travel-
time curves for seismic waves in which all the important
seismic phases were shown to IS0°, inclucling some phases
triply reflected! from the surface.
Gutenberg confirmed! en c! macle precise the observations
of Tams, Angenheister, en c! MaceTwane in ~ 92 I-22, in which
the velocities of propagation of surface waves were faster
across the oceanic than across the continental portions of
the Earth's surface (1924~. For this he user! measurements
of the velocities of both Love en c! Rayleigh waves at a num-
ber of periods from all the prewar seismographic records at
Strassburg, from all records at Lena, en c! selectee! records
from other stations. He proposer! a methoc! of inversion of
the dispersion of surface waves to determine upper mantle
structure that was similar to the methoc! ultimately applier!
in the late 1950s. His inversion for crustal thickness (he
manager! to confuse group en c! phase velocities) gave a
thick crust uncler the continents en c! a thinner crust uncler
the oceans, with a crustal thickness of only 5 km uncler the
Pacific. The latter was a remarkably foresightfuT result in
view of direct substantiation about thirty years later when
exploration of the oceanic crust became possible. From these
results, Gutenberg became convincer! that there were large
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BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
structural differences between continents en c! oceans in the
outermost parts of the Earth, a view that was to play a sig-
nificant part in his moclel of continental cirift (1936~. Be-
cause of his observation of differences between continental
en c! oceanic upper mantle structure, Gutenberg was con-
vincec! of the likelihood! of horizontal mobility long before
it became fashionable in the geophysical community. He
began a study of the rheological problems associates! with
Wegener's theory of continental drift en c! clevelopec! his
own theory of flow in the mantle (1927~.
Gutenberg was especially pleaser! with his calculation of
the distribution of the density, en c! hence the elastic mocluli,
as a function of depth in the Earth (1923~. The calculation
may be consiclerec! crucle by tociay's stanciarcis, since it re-
liec! on a linear clensit~versus-clepth moclel in each of the
four layers in the mantle mocle! of 1912, but it is important,
because it was the first construction of a density clistribu-
tion for the mantle. Later, Bullen introclucec! the constraint
of compressibility, en c! still later the density was obtainer!
by Gilbert en c! Dziewonski en c! others from inversion of the
free oscillation spectrum. This was the starting point for a
new cliscipline concernec! with the chemical composition of
the Earth's interior. In his later discussions of composition,
Gutenberg relief! mainly on the density moclels of Bullen,
BullarcI, en c! Birch, rather than his own.
Gutenberg's unhappy financial situation clic! not escape
the notice of Professor Franz Linke, director of the Insti-
tute of Meteorology en c! Geophysics of the University of
Frankfurt. Linke proposer! to Gutenberg that he obtain his
Habititation, which was awarclec! at the University of Frank-
furt on July 25, 1924, with his book Die seismische Bodenunrnhe
as his Habititationsschrift. Although it hac! the same title as
his thesis, the book presented new results on microseisms
en c! the structure of the Earth. After an introductory lec
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BENO GUTENBERG
137
true. Gutenberg clic! fee! many of the large aftershocks of
the Long Beach earthquake.
The large number of earthquakes in southern California
presented a natural challenge to quantify the earthquake
process. The start was the construction of a magnitude scale
for local earthquakes (M~) in southern California using the
uniformity of the WoocI-Anclerson seismographs in the To-
cal network. Gutenberg hac! an important influence on
Richter's publication in 1935 of the local magnitude scale.
Shortly thereafter, Gutenberg en c! Richter (1936) constructor!
the surface wave magnitude scale for distant earthquakes
(Ms), en c! the surface wave magnitudes were normalizer!
according to the local scale. For the first time, the magni-
tucles of the largest earthquakes were iclentifiec! as having
magnitudes from ~ to S.5. Gutenberg en c! Richter estab-
lishec! the magnitude scale for creep earthquakes, which clo
not excite surface waves (1945~. The magnitude scale for
local earthquakes was mainly clue to Richter, the magni-
tucte scale for distant earthquakes, with application to the
largest earthquakes, was clue to both men, with Gutenberg
as the prime mover. Some people have expresser! unhappi-
ness that the magnitude scale has not been caller! the
Gutenberg-Richter scale.
Magnitudes are of importance in that they provicle a uni-
fying parameter about which a variety of properties of earth-
quakes can be relater! (1942~. The clevelopment of the mag-
nitucle scale, Gutenberg's calculation of the energies racliatec!
in seismic waves (1956), en c! Benioff's icleas about strain
accumulation en c! relaxation allowed! for the opening of a
new science: the stucly of the Earth's seismicity. This was
first explorer! in the monumental book by Gutenberg en c!
Richter, The Seismicity of the earth (1954), in which the statis-
tics of local earthquakes were clescribecI. This was the first
major catalog of great earthquakes woric~wicle, ciassifiec! not
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BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
only as to time en c! location but also as to magnitude. The
statistics showed the famous universal, log-linear frequency
magnitude relation with a slope close to I.0. The calcula-
tion of energies for selectee! earthquakes hac! been clone
earlier ~ ~ 929, pp. ~ 87, 296) . Gutenberg now embarked on
a stucly to relate the energy releaser! in an earthquake to its
magnitude. For the first time the energy flux in earthquakes
conic! be calculatecI. The energy-frequency relation conic!
now be shown to be a power law with exponent close to
-2/3. In later years, the power law relation has been a para-
cligm for the mocleling of seismicity en c! the earthquake
process.
. .
In 1926 the National Research Council appointee! a com-
mittee to prepare a report entitles! In tern at Constitution of
the earth. Little appears to have been clone until 1937, when
Gutenberg was appointee! to chair the committee en c! was
charged with the task of reorganizing it. With characteristic
vigor, the task was completec! in short order, en c! the vol-
ume appeared in 1939, the printing was exhausted quickly.
In view of the progress macle since 1939, a seconc! reviser!
edition appeared in 1951 with major changes from and ad-
clitions to the first eclition. The purpose of the volume was
to give a scientific reacler outside the field! an overview of
the status of the field and an identification of the unsolved
problems. The volume responclec! to the original charge,
but it was also a resource of great completeness where stu-
clents conic! fins! copious references to aciclitional material.
It thus became almost immediately a major and highly cited
scientific resource for the evidence en c! interpretation of
the composition, temperature, elastic properties, figure,
density, gravity, origin en c! evolution, en c! the stress-strain
state of the interior. The volume shows that major new re-
sults en c! major new icleas hac! clevelopec! in the years since
the Handbuch. Gutenberg was no mere managing editor,
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BENO GUTENBERG
139
having written more than half of the volume himself. Where
differences of opinion arose among the authors, no effort
was macle to reach consensus, each author clevelopec! his
material unrestrained.
Only months before his cleath, Gutenberg's last book Physics
of the Earth's Interior (1959) was publishecI. A companion
volume on seismology was plannecI, but cleath intervened.
The book focuses on many of the same subjects as In tern at
Constitution, but this time the exposition is a personal, sys-
tematic journey through crust, mantle, en c! core before at-
tacking the issues of temperature, density, ticles, etc. The
book is a remarkable summary of the properties of the
interior of the Earth en c! an accounting of the vast number
of sources for this information, many of them coming from
Gutenberg's own measurements. Gutenberg shower! him-
self to have been a voracious reacler of the literature. The
book is a deep, thoughtful, and thorough monograph on
geophysics en c! proves that Gutenberg was not merely a
great seismologist. Remarkable in his swan song is his pre-
scient identification of topics that shortly wouIc! elicit much
interest. I mention two such areas.
The first topic was his brief identification of the impor-
tance of studies of the resonance spectrum of the Earth.
WouIc! not Gutenberg have been exciter! by the unprec-
eclentec! observations of the rich resonance spectra that re-
sultec! from recordings of the great Chilean earthquake of
~ 960, which occurrec! four months after his cleath? The
observations of these spectra triggerec! a grant! flowering of
activity in inverse theory en c! ultra-Ion" perioc! seismology,
in particular, density estimates for the Earth's interior conic!
be clerivec! from the spectra without assumptions about com-
pressibility or other properties.
The seconc! topic was Gutenberg's commitment to the
icleas of convection en c! continental drift, although he clic!
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40
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
not connect the two. That linkage was not to happen for
another nine years, with the clevelopment of the plate tec-
tonics moclel. However, he macle a definite insightful asser-
tion that convection wouic! be shown to be responsible for
mountain builcling en c! earthquakes,
struction of the continental geometry into an almost single
mass in Cretaceous times, that climates on the Tong-time
scale will clepenc! on unclerstancling continental cirift.
After the assumption of power by the Nazis, Gutenberg
kept his contacts in Germany alive. During these prewar
years, he helpec! many Jewish scientists escape from Ger-
many. Notable among these were Viktor Conrad, editor of
Geriands Beitrage, en c! Helmut Lancisberg. Lancisberg hac!
been Gutenberg's student en c! was his successor as director
of the earthquake service at the Taunus observatory. In
1934 Lancisberg fleck to the Uniter! States with Gutenberg's
help and became professor at Pennsylvania State College in
College Park.
Gutenberg returnee! to the problem of microseisms en c!
their meteorological causes while working on a project for
the U.S. Navy cluring en c! after WorIc! War II. Gutenberg
was a valuable World War II consultant to the Navy, apply-
ing his knowlecige of the structure of the upper atmosphere
to the problems of ballistics. He also worker! on applica-
tions of the observations of microseisms to locate hurri-
canes in the Caribbean en c! the western Pacific. Within a
few weeks of the war's end, Gutenberg wrote to the Navy
stating that for many years he had been suggesting the use
of microseisms for forecasting of storms, especially hurri-
canes. No longer were microseisms associates! with surf, he
asserted, but now they were associates! with clifferential ToacI-
ing of the ocean bottom by distant storms. The theory was
given by M. Longuet-Higgins in 1950. The results that he
hac! obtainer! in the Caribbean area exceeclec! by far his
and from his recon
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BENO GUTENBERG
141
most optimistic hopes. In the spring of 1947 the Navy sent
Gutenberg to Japan, Guam, and the Philippines to do addi-
tional research on microseisms, as well as to consult on the
problems of the revival of seismological research in these
countries in the wake of the war.
Gutenberg was small of stature, very personable, en c! lively.
He was well organizer! en c! kept to a precise tinily schecluTe.
Although his scientific clemancis on himself were rigorous,
Gutenberg was gentle en c! self-effacing in his relationship
with others. He was helpful to anyone who asker! a question
of him en c! was tolerant of critics. Gutenberg was a man
who conic! give his colleagues en c! students a liberal ecluca-
tion in scientific method, macle pleasantly easy by kinciness,
patience, amazing industry, en c! a clelightful sense of hu-
mor. He was a cultures! incliviclual, well react, en c! with wicle
interests reflections of his broac! European education.
Having inheritec! his mother's musical talents, Beno learner!
to play the piano, a skill that was to last him through his
entire life. In his earliest years in Darmstacit, Beno sang in
the synagogue choir en c! often playoc! the organ. In the
Pasadena years, Einstein playoc! the violin in chamber mu-
sic events organizer! at the Gutenberg home. At the enc! of
WorIc! War II, in a reprise of the bartering activity of earlier
years, Gutenberg collectec! the accumulates! royalties on his
publications in Germany by payment in the form of numer-
ous piano scores for two en c! four hands.
His bookplate shows the Owl of Wisdom with a seismo-
gram in its beak in flight arounc! the Gottingen Institute of
Geophysics. The text on the bookplate repeats the motto of
the Lehrbuch:
Viele Zeichen gibt uns clie Natur,
Leitet uns auf cler Erkenntnis Spur,
Weist uns ihre wunclerbaren Bahnen,
Lasst clie Seele uns cles WeTtalis ahnen!
OCR for page 142
42
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
Frank Press, former president of the National Academy
of Sciences, has stated, "Gutenberg was absolutely cleclicatec!
to seismology, especially to observational data and their in-
terpretation. His work carries the mark of much self-confi-
clence in his ability to examine ciata not as a statistician but
as a skillful interpreter en c! synthesizer." Throughout his
entire career, Gutenberg's reputation rester! on the solic!
foundation of his own reacting with great accuracy en c! in-
sight of the arrival times en c! other properties of seismic
waves on the seismic records. In contrast to the moclus op-
erancli of many moclern scientists, Press continues,
"Gutenberg conic! ciraw conclusions from sparse en c! noisy
ciata with uncanny insight that" structures such as a core
en c! a low-velocity zone en c! continent-ocean differences couIc!
be states! to exist. Gutenberg's belief in the power of the
ciata to resolve issues of differences in moclels is given by
the penultimate sentence of Physics of the Earth's Interior:
THE DATA "MUST BE GREATLY AMPLIFIED AND
STRENGTHENED" (Gutenberg's capitalization and punc-
tuation). Gutenberg dominated the field of observational
seismology as no one before or after. At the time of his
cleath, Byerly remarkocI, "It is rare that anyone writes a pa-
per in seismology without referring to him."
When one reads the list of Beno Gutenberg's contribu-
tions to the full range of seismological studies spanning
seismicity, wave propagation in the Earth, en c! the physics
of the Earth's interior one must be in awe of his insights,
his breadth, his thoroughness, his vigor, en c! especially his
creativity.
AM MOST GRATEFUL to Caltech for allowing me access to a variety of
documents in its archival files of Beno Gutenberg and Charles F.
Richter and to a transcript of an oral history interview with Hertha
Gutenberg. The history of the Seismological Laboratory as given in
OCR for page 143
BENO GUTENBERG
143
Milikan's School by Tudith R. Goodstein (W. W. Norton, New York,
1991) was valuable. I have also found the following biographical
articles helpful:
P. Byerly. Trans. Am. Geophys. Union 34~1954~:353-54.
C. F. Richter. Proc. Geol. Soc. Am., Annual Report for 1960, (1962) :93
104.
H.Jeffreys. Q.J. Astron. Soc. 1(1960):239-42.
T. Schweitzer. Mitteil. Deutsch. Geophys. Gesell. 3~1989~:8-10.
D. L. Anderson. In Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences, vol. 1, pp. 444-45.
Macmillan: New York, 1996.
If it should be perceived that I have appropriated some of the
language in the above documents, the accusation is well founded.
These authors have been a most valuable resource, not only for
their thoughts on the life and science of Beno Gutenberg but also
in their admirable choice of words.
HONORS
1945 Member, National Academy of Sciences
Honorary member, Royal Society of New Zealand
1945-47 President, Seismological Society of America
1947 Foreign member, Academia dei Lincei
Honorary member, Finnish Geographical Society
1948 Foreign member, Finnish Academy of Letters and Sciences
1949 Foreign member, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Member, Washington Academy of Sciences
1950 Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
1951-54 President, International Association of Seismology and the
Physics of the Earth's Interior
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
Prix Lagrange, Royal Belgian Academy of Sciences
Bowie Medal, American Geophysical Union
Foreign Member, Geological Society (London)
Honorary doctorate, University of Uppsala
Emil-Wiechert Medal, German Geophysical Society
OCR for page 144
44
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
1912
..
With K. Zoppritz and L. Geiger. Uber Erdbenwellen V. Konstitution
des Erdinnern, erschlossen aus dem Bodenverruckungsverhaltnis
der einmal reflektierten zu den direkten Longitudinalwellen, und
einige andere Beobachtungen uber Erdbenwellen. Nachr. d. Kon.
Ges. d. Wiss. Gottingen, math.phys. Kl. 121-206.
With L. Geiger. Uber Erdbobenwellen VI. Konstitution des Erdinnern,
erschlossen aus der Intensitat longitudinaler und transversaler
Erdbenwellen, und einige Beobachtungen an den Vorlaufern.
Nachr. d. Kon. Ges. d. Wiss. Gottingen, math. phys. Kl. 623-75.
Die seismische Bodenunruhe (dissertation). Gerl. Beitrage z. Geophys.
11 :314-53.
1914
..
Uber Erdbenwellen VIIA. Beobachtungen an Registrierungen von
Fernboben in Gottingen und Folgerungen uber die Konstitution
des Erdkorpers. Nachr. d. Kon. Ges. d. Wiss. Gottingen, math.phys.
Kl. 125-76.
1923
Die elastischen Konstanten im Erdinnern. Phys. Zs. 24:296-99.
1924
Dispersion und Extinktion von seismischen Oberflachenwellen und
der Aufbau der obersten Erdschichten. Phys. Zs. 25:377-81.
1925
DerAufbau derErde. Berlin: Gebr. Borntrager.
1926
Die Geschwindigkeit des Schalles in der Atmosphare. Phys. Zs. 27:84-
86.
1927
Die Veranderungen der Erdkruste durch Fliessbewegungen. Gerl.
Beitrage z. Geophys. 16:239-47; 18:281-91.
OCR for page 145
BENO GUTENBERG
1929
145
Die physikalische Vorgange bei Erdboben. In Lehrbuch der Geophysik,
ea., pp. 220-307. Berlin: Gebr. Borntrager.
Der Physikalische Aufbau des Erdkorpers. In Lehrbuch der Geophysik,
ea., pp. 536-81. Berlin: Gebr. Borntrager.
1930
Schallgeschwindigkeit und Temperatur in der Stratosphare. Gerl.
Beiotrage z. Geophys. 27:217-25.
Hypotheses on the development of the Earth. 7. Wash. A cad. Sci.
20:17-25.
1932
Theorie der Erdbobenwellen. In Handbuch der Geophysik, vol. 4, ea.,
pp. 1-150. Berlin: Gebr. Borntrager.
Beobachtungen von Erdbobenwellen. In Handbuch der Geophysik, vol.
4, ea., pp. 151-263. Berlin: Gebr. Borntrager.
Der Aufbau der Atmosphare. In Handbuch der Geophysik, vol. 9, ea.,
pp. 1-88. Berlin: Gebr. Borntrager.
Die Schallausbreitung in der Atmosphare. In Handbuch der Geophysik,
vol. 9, ea., pp. 89-145. Berlin: Gebr. Borntrager.
1933
Abkuhlung und Temperatur der Erde. In Handbuch der Geophysik,
vol. 2, ea., pp. 1-35. Berlin: Gebr. Borntrager.
Der Physikalische Aufbau der Erde. In Handbuch der Geophysik, vol.
2, ea., pp. 440-564. Berlin: Gebr. Borntrager.
1934
The propagation of the longitudinal waves produced by the Long
Beach earthquake. Gerl. Beitrage z. Geophys. 41:114-20.
With C. F. Richter. On seismic waves. I. Gerl. Beitrage z. Geophys.
43:56-133.
1935
With C. F. Richter. On seismic waves. II. Gerl. Beitrage z. Geophys.
45:280-360.
OCR for page 146
146
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
1936
With C. F. Richter. On seismic waves. III. Gerl. Beitrage z. Geophys.
47:73-131.
The structure of the Earth's crust and the spreading of the conti-
nents. Bull. Geol. Soc. Am. 47:1587-1610.
1938
With C. F. Richter. P and the Earth's core. Mon. Not. Roy. Astron.
Soc. Geophys. Suppl. 4:363-72.
1939
With C. F. Richter. On seismic waves. IV. Gerl. Beitrage z. Geophys.
54:94-136.
1940
Krafte in der Erdkruste. In Handbuch der Geophysik, vol. 3, ea., pp. 1-
31. Berlin: Gebr. Borntrager.
Geotektonische Hypothesen. In Handbuch der Geophysik, vol. 3, ea.,
pp. 442-544. Berlin: Gebr. Borntrager.
1942
With C. F. Richter. Earthquake magnitude, intensity, energy and
acceleration. Bull. Seismol. Soc. Am. 32: 163-91.
1943
Seismological evidence for roots of mountains. Bull. Geol. Soc. Am.
54:473-98.
1945
Magnitude determination for deep-focus earthquakes. Bull. Seismol.
Soc. Am. 35:117-30.
1948
On the layer of relatively low wave velocity at a depth of about 80
kilometers. Bull. Seismol. Soc. Am. 38:121-48.
1951
The cooling of the Earth and the temperature in its interior. In
Internal Constitution of the earth, ea., pp. 150-66. New York: Dover.
OCR for page 147
BENO GUTENBERG
147
Forces in the Earth. In Internal Constitution of the earth, ea., pp. 167-
77. New York: Dover.
Hypotheses on the development of the Earth. In Internal Constitu-
tion of the Earth, ea., pp. 178-226. New York: Dover.
With C. F. Richter. Evidence from deep focus earthquakes. In Inter-
nal Constitution of the Earth, ea., pp. 305-313. New York: Dover.
With C. F. Richter. Structure of the crust. In Internal Constitution of
the Earth, ea., pp. 314-39. New York: Dover.
The elastic constants in the interior of the Earth. In Internal Consti-
tution of the Earth, ea., pp. 364-81. New York: Dover.
With H. Benioff. Strain characteristics of the Earth's interior. In
Internal Constitution of the Earth, ea., pp. 382-407. New York: Do
ver.
With H. Benioff, T. M. Burgers, and D. Griggs. Colloquium on plas-
tic flow and deformation within the Earth. Trans. Am. Geophys.
Union 32:497-543.
Travel times from blasts in southern California. Bull. Seismol. Soc.
Am. 41:5-12.
1953
Wave velocities at depths between 50 and 600 kilometers. Bull. Seismol.
Soc. Am. 43:223-32.
1954
With C. F. Richter. Seismicity of the Earth and Associated Phenomena.
Princeton, N.T.: Princeton University Press.
1956
The energy of earthquakes. Q. 7. Geol. Soc. Lond. 112:1 -14.
1958
Velocity of seismic waves in the Earth's mantle. Trans. Am. Geophys.
Union 39:486-89.
1959
Physics of the Earth's Interior. New York: Academic Press.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
biographical memoirs
