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 ti
