Transcript Diapositiva 1

UNIT
6
The Earth’s structure
DISCOVERERS OF
DISCONTINUITIES
Natural Science 2. Secondary Education
UNIT
6
Discoverers of discontinuities
Isaac Newton
• Newton was born in 1642. He
was an English physicist,
theologian, inventor and alchemist.
• He was one of the first scientists
to theorise that the composition of
the inside of the Earth was
different from that of the surface.
• While developing his famous
theory of gravity, Newton deduced
that the density of the interior of
the Earth was approximately twice
that of the rocks found on the
surface.
Isaac Newton
Natural Science 2. Secondary Education
UNIT
6
Discoverers of discontinuities
Andrija Mohorovicic
• Mohorovicic was born in Croatia in
1857. He was a meteorologist and
seismologist.
• He carried out important studies on
climate, but he is best known for his
discovery of the discontinuity that
separates the Earth’s crust from its
mantle. He was the first scientist to
discover a discontinuity between the
layers of the Earth’s interior.
• It was not until many years after
Mohorovicic’s discovery that his ideas
were understood and accepted.
Andrija Mohorovicic
Natural Science 2. Secondary Education
UNIT
6
Discoverers of discontinuities
Beno Gutenberg
• Gutenberg was a German seismologist,
who was born in 1889.
• He obtained his doctorate when he was
only 22. He was 25 when he made his
historic discovery of the discontinuity
between the Earth’s mantle and its core.
• He is also known for developing the
famous Richter scale, which measures
the intensity of earthquakes, in
partnership with Charles Richter.
Beno Gutenberg
Natural Science 2. Secondary Education
UNIT
6
Discoverers of discontinuities
Inge Lehmann
• Lehmann was born in Denmark in 1888.
She was a seismologist and mathematician.
• In 1928, she was appointed head of the
department of seismology at the Royal
Geodetic Institute of Denmark, where she
worked for 25 years.
• Lehmann published her discovery of the
discontinuity between the Earth’s molten
outer core and solid inner core.
• She died at the age of 104 in 1993. Her
contributions to geology were so great that
the Inge Lehmann Medal was created in 1995
to recognise contributions to our
understanding of the Earth’s structure.
Inge Lehmann
Natural Science 2. Secondary Education