Inge Lehmann

Inge Lehmann (May 13, 1888 February 21, 1993) was a

Danish seismologist and geophysicist. In 1936, she discovered that the Earth has a
solid inner core inside a molten outer core. Before that, seismologists believed Earth's core
to be a single molten sphere, being unable, however, to explain careful measurements
of seismic wavesfrom earthquakes, which were inconsistent with the Earth having a single
molten core. Lehmann analysed the seismic wave measurements and concluded, that
Earth must have a solid inner core and a molten outer core to produce seismic waves that
matched the measurements. Other seismologists tested and then accepted Lehmann's
explanation.

Early life and education[edit]

Inge Lehmann was born and grew up in sterbro, a part of Copenhagen. Her mother was
Ida Sophie Trsleff; her father was experimental psychologist Alfred Georg Ludvik
Lehmann (18581921). She received her school education at a pedagogically progressive
high school led by Hanna Adler, Niels Bohr's aunt.[4][5]According to Lehmann, her father and
Adler were the most significant influences for her intellectual development.
She studied mathematics at the University of Copenhagen and University of Cambridge,
interrupted by poor health.[6] She continued her studies of mathematics in Cambridge from
1910 to 1911 at Newnham College. In 1911, she returned from Cambridge feeling
exhausted from the work and put her studies aside for a while. She developed good
computational skills in an actuary office she worked in for a few years until she resumed
studies at Copenhagen University in 1918. She completed the candidatus magisterii degree
in physical science and mathematics in two years. When she returned to Denmark in 1923,
she accepted a position at Copenhagen University as an assistant to J.F. Steffensen, the
professor of actuarial science.
In 1925 Lehmann became an assistant to the geodesist Niels Erik Nrlund, who assigned
her the task of setting up seismological observatories in Denmark and Greenland. Based
on her studies in seismology, in 1928 she earned the magister scientiarum degree
(equivalent to an MA) in geodesy and accepted a position as state geodesist and head of
the department of seismology at the Geodetical Institute of Denmark led by Nrlund.[9]
In a paper titled P' (1936),[10] Lehmann was the first to interpret P wave arrivalswhich
inexplicably appeared in the P wave shadow of the Earth's coreas reflections from an
inner core.[11] Other leading seismologists of the time, such as Beno Gutenberg, Charles
Richter, and Harold Jeffreys, adopted this interpretation within two or three years. Lehmann
was significantly hampered in her work and maintaining international contacts during World
War II and the German occupation of Denmark. In 1971 the interpretation was shown
correct by computer calculations.[12]

In 1952, Lehmann was considered for a professorship in geophysics at Copenhagen

University, but was not appointed. In 1953, she retired from her position at the Geodetic
Institute. She moved to the US for several years and collaborated withMaurice
Ewing and Frank Press on investigations of Earth's crust and upper mantle. During this
work, she discovered another seismic discontinuity, which lies at depths between 190 and
250 km and was named for her, the Lehmann discontinuity. Francis Birch noted that the
"Lehmann discontinuity was discovered through exacting scrutiny of seismic records by a
master of a black art for which no amount of computerization is likely to be a complete
substitute.

wards and honors[edit]

Lehmann received many honors for her outstanding scientific achievements, among them
the Gordon Wood Award (1960); the Emil Wiechert Medal (1964); the Gold Medal of the
Danish Royal Society of Science and Letters (1965); the Tagea Brandt Rejselegat (1938
and 1967); the election as a Fellow of the Royal Societyin 1969;[13] the William Bowie
Medal (1971, as the first woman); and the Medal of the Seismological Society of America in
1977. She was awarded honorary doctorates from Columbia University in 1964 and from
the University of Copenhagen in 1968, as well as numerous honorific memberships.
The asteroid 5632 Ingelehmann was named in her honor.
In 1997, the American Geophysical Union established the Inge Lehmann Medal to honor
"outstanding contributions to the understanding of the structure, composition, and dynamics
of the Earths mantle and core."
On the 127th anniversary of her birth, Google dedicated its worldwide Google Doodle to
her.[14][15][16]

Key publications[edit]

Lehmann, Inge (1936). "P". Publications du Bureau Central Sismologique

International A14 (3): 87115.

Bibliography[edit]

Lehmann, Inge (1987). "Seismology in the Days of Old". EOS 68 (3): 3335.

Swirles, Lady Jeffreys, Bertha (1994). "Inge Lehmann: Reminiscences". Quarterly

Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society 35 (2): 231.Bibcode:1994QJRAS..35..231W.

Kousholt, Bjarne. "Inge Lehmann og Jordens kerne" ISBN 8750209574,

9788750209577