Richter's Scale

"The true value of Richter's Scale resides in its unspoken commemoration of a nearly extinct mode of scientific endeavor."--Claudio Vita-Finzi, Times Literary Supplement "One thing this book, written by one professional scientist about another, communicates very clearly, is what it is actually like to be a scientist--a welcome contribution."--Roger M. W. Musson, Times Higher Education Supplement "[An] illuminating biography."--Emily Banham, Nature "[This book] reveals an unfamiliar side of the scientist famous for developing the first magnitude scale for earthquakes in 1935... Most of [Richter's] colleagues remained unaware of the scope of his thoughts and interests. Richter's Scale will change this. It reveals Richter to be an individual with more than his share of flaws, but also as an iconoclastic scientist worthy of his fame and of our admiration."--Gregory C. Beroza, Nature "Hough draws on a wealth of documents left behind by Richter ... to chronicle his rise to fame and explain his place in the history of seismology... The author describes Richter's tumultuous upbringing, his penchant for nudism, and his prolific writing of poems--many included in the book."--Science News "Written by a seismologist about the most famous seismologist, this biography of Charles Richter (1900-85) is the first researched from Richter's papers... Hough's inspections of Richter's psyche may expand her readership beyond that interested in earthquakes... Richter, however difficult to like in life--he had few friends, according to Hough--proves to have had the turbulent inner life and struggles with the external world of which compelling biographies are made."--Gilbert Taylor,Booklist "This is very much a behind-the-headlines portrait of the private man... The portrait that emerges is that of a scientist who was initially far more interested in astronomy and stargazing than seismology; who possessed powerful poetic longings, and, above all, abiding decency."--Steven Carroll, The Age "This thoughtful, well-researched book explores a central question: why Richter--an admittedly quirky, plainspoken scientist--became so much better known than some of his more accomplished colleagues... Richter's ability to communicate his findings with a general audience through the press, Hough demonstrates, gave him the kind of public profile that cemented his position in the popular lexicon."--Juliet Eilperin, Washington Post Book World "By developing the scale that bears his name, Charles Richter not only invented the concept of magnitude as a measure of earthquake size, he also turned his name into a household word. This behind-the-scenes look at Richter, the man, is an artful interweaving of the stories of Richter's life with the history of earthquakes exploration and seismology."--Natural Hazards Observer "Richter's Scale will last as long as this earth lasts and so will this story by Susan Hough Her exemplary work the like of which we do not see often, both in terms of content and humane and conscious approach, is of great importance to our present times. While it should have been written earlier, it could not have been written better. One almost falls in love with Susan Hough for this remarkably successful attempt to bring Richter back to life and make him stand before us. Many thanks, Susan Hough! We shall remember you for this wonderer gift to the scientific-minded and to most many others less so minded."--Current Engineering Practice "Susan Hough has done her job extraordinarily well, turning a tangled-up story of a man hardly understood by others into a very fascinating biography."--Pawel Wiejacz, Pure and Applied Geophysics

Susan Hough is a seismologist at the United States Geological Survey in Pasadena, California. She has served as an editor and contributor for many journals and is a contributing editor to "Geotimes Magazine". She is the author of three previous books, including "Earthshaking Science" (Princeton).

Preface ix CHAPTER 1: The Magnitude of the Problem 1 CHAPTER 2: Formative Years 9 CHAPTER 3: Margaret Rose 25 CHAPTER 4: Harnessing the Horses 36 CHAPTER 5: Earthquake Exploration 51 CHAPTER 6: The Kresge Era 62 CHAPTER 7: Beno Gutenberg 82 CHAPTER 8: Earthquake! 102 CHAPTER 9: Richter Scale 112 CHAPTER 10: Charlie 132 CHAPTER 11: Lillian 153 CHAPTER 12: Richter's Women 181 CHAPTER 13: Autumn 192 CHAPTER 14: Asperger's Syndrome 212 CHAPTER 15: Here It Comes Again 241 CHAPTER 16: Predicting the Unpredictable 253 CHAPTER 17: Sizing Up Earthquake Hazard 269 CHAPTER 18: Hazard in a Nuclear Age 276 CHAPTER 19: Supernova 286 APPENDIX A Belated Farewell 309 Bibliography 313 Acknowledgments 325 Index 331 Earthquakes by Date 337