Inge Lehmann
| Inge Lehmann | |
|---|---|
Lehmann in 1932
|
|
| Born |
13 May 1888 Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Died | 21 February 1993 (aged 104) Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Resting place |
Hørsholm Cemetery 55°52′14.06″N 12°30′16.01″E / 55.8705722°N 12.5044472°E |
| Fields | seismology, geophysics |
| Institutions | Geodetical Institute of Denmark |
| Alma mater | University of Copenhagen, University of Cambridge |
| Notable awards | William Bowie Medal (1971) |
Inge Lehmann ForMemRS (13 May 1888 – 21 February 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 waves from 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. Lehmann was also the longest-lived woman scientist, having lived for over 104 years.
Inge Lehmann was born and grew up in Østerbro, a part of Copenhagen. Her mother was Ida Sophie Tørsleff; her father was experimental psychologist Alfred Georg Ludvik Lehmann (1858–1921). She received her school education at a pedagogically progressive high school led by Hanna Adler, Niels Bohr's aunt. According to Lehmann, her father and Adler were the most significant influences on her intellectual development.
She studied mathematics at the University of Copenhagen and University of Cambridge, interrupted by poor health. 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.
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