Beno Gutenberg

Beno Gutenberg (1889-1960), German American seismologist, who made important contributions to the study of earthquakes and the waves they produce (seismology), and the interior of the earth. Gutenberg's study of microseisms, small motions in the earth unrelated to earthquakes, was pioneering; he also conducted work on the structure of the earth's upper atmosphere.

Gutenberg was born in Darmstadt, Germany, the son of a soap manufacturer. In school, he concentrated on math, physics, and chemistry and was interested in weather forecasting and climatology. At the University of Gottingen this interest led him to study geophysics, particularly instrumental observation. In 1911 he received his Ph.D. degree in the study of microseisms. Thereafter Gutenberg held positions in seismology in Europe, also running the family business after his father died in 1926. In 1930 he moved to the California Institute of Technology (CalTech) and the Seismological Laboratory in Pasadena, which he directed from 1947 to 1958.

Gutenberg made fundamental contributions to a number of areas of geophysics, particularly in the study of seismic waves (waves in the earth produced by earthquakes). Using seismograms (records of seismic waves), he showed the existence of the earth's core and accurately measured the depth from the surface to the core (see Earth). In addition, Gutenberg used seismograms to understand the structure of the earth's mantle—the layer of hot, pressurized rock beneath the earth’s outer crust. He also thought seismograms indicated a basic difference in the crust beneath the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, an idea that turned out to be incorrect; in fact, all oceanic crust is composed of the same material. With Charles Richter, Gutenberg improved calculations for the travel times of earthquakes. Richter and Gutenberg also developed an earthquake magnitude scale, usually called the Richter Scale, but more accurately called the Richter-Gutenberg scale. Together they published a fundamental textbook, Seismicity of the Earth, in 1965 and in 1959 Gutenberg also edited a basic reference work, Internal Constitution of the Earth. See also Seismology; Earthquake; Geology.