Robert Mallet, an Irishman born in 1810 at Ryders Row, off Capel Street, Dublin, is known as the father of seismology from experiments he carried out on Killiney Beach, County Dublin, to examine the velocities of energy passing through various materials including rocks. The experiments involved the detonation of kegs of gun powder buried in the sand and measuring the travel times of the shock waves at a distance of 0.5 miles. This was in fact the first “controlled source” seismological experiment ever to be performed in Ireland or anywhere else in the world. For more reading about the life of Robert Mallet please click here.
The BBC Coast Program invited the Geophysics Section to provide technical seismological support for the recreation of the Killiney Beach experiments that were carried out by Robert Mallet in October 1849. The programme will include a recording of the detonation of a small charge on the beach and its resulting shock wave registered by the DIAS data recorder. The program is due to be aired by the BBC sometime in Spring 2009.
Mallet graduated from Trinity College Dublin (TCD) with a degree in Natural Science in 1830 and went on to work in his fathers iron foundry in Capel Street, Dublin City, where he helped manufacture among other things, the very characteristic iron railings that surround Trinity College and which bear his family name at the base. A very active and prolific investigator in many branches of engineering and natural science, Mallet became interested in the phenomena of earthquakes and contributed many papers on the topic to Royal Irish Academy (RIA), and Royal Society of London (RSL).
He was elected to the Royal Irish Academy at the very early age of 22 in 1832. He enrolled in the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1835 which helped finance much of Mallet’s research in seismology.
On the 16th December, 1857, the area around Padula, Southern Italy, was devastated by a very strong earthquake in which 11,000 people were killed. At that time this earthquake was the 3rd largest known quake in the world and was reckoned to be 7.00 on the Richter Scale. Robert Mallet, with letters of support from Charles Lyell and Charles Darwin, petitioned the Royal Society of London and received a grant of 150 pounds sterling to go to Padula and record first hand the devastation that had occurred. The resulting report was presented to the RSL as the “Report on the Great Neapolitan Earthquake of 1857”. This was a major scientific work and made great use of the latest research tool of photography to record the devastation caused by the earthquake.
Related article: Science Spin September 2009 issue
In 1838 he became a life member of the Royal Geological Society of Ireland located in the Dublin Customs House and acted as its President from 1846-48.
He presented to the RIA his most significant paper on 9th February 1846 on earthquake dynamics.
He is also responsible for coining the word “seismology” and other related “seismo” words e.g. the isoseismal map, which he used in his research.
The RIA awarded Mallet the Cunningham medal for his research into the theory of earthquakes on15th March 1862. Ironically, Mallet’s first experience of an earthquake happened in Dublin in 1840’s.
He was awarded an honorary D. Litt. from TCD, and in 1877 the prestigious Wollaston Medal, the Geological Society of London highest honour.
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Last Updated: 22nd March 2016 by Louise Collins
Robert Mallet
Robert Mallet, an Irishman born in 1810 at Ryders Row, off Capel Street, Dublin, is known as the father of seismology from experiments he carried out on Killiney Beach, County Dublin, to examine the velocities of energy passing through various materials including rocks. The experiments involved the detonation of kegs of gun powder buried in the sand and measuring the travel times of the shock waves at a distance of 0.5 miles. This was in fact the first “controlled source” seismological experiment ever to be performed in Ireland or anywhere else in the world. For more reading about the life of Robert Mallet please click here.
The BBC Coast Program invited the Geophysics Section to provide technical seismological support for the recreation of the Killiney Beach experiments that were carried out by Robert Mallet in October 1849. The programme will include a recording of the detonation of a small charge on the beach and its resulting shock wave registered by the DIAS data recorder. The program is due to be aired by the BBC sometime in Spring 2009.
Mallet graduated from Trinity College Dublin (TCD) with a degree in Natural Science in 1830 and went on to work in his fathers iron foundry in Capel Street, Dublin City, where he helped manufacture among other things, the very characteristic iron railings that surround Trinity College and which bear his family name at the base. A very active and prolific investigator in many branches of engineering and natural science, Mallet became interested in the phenomena of earthquakes and contributed many papers on the topic to Royal Irish Academy (RIA), and Royal Society of London (RSL).
He was elected to the Royal Irish Academy at the very early age of 22 in 1832. He enrolled in the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1835 which helped finance much of Mallet’s research in seismology.
On the 16th December, 1857, the area around Padula, Southern Italy, was devastated by a very strong earthquake in which 11,000 people were killed. At that time this earthquake was the 3rd largest known quake in the world and was reckoned to be 7.00 on the Richter Scale. Robert Mallet, with letters of support from Charles Lyell and Charles Darwin, petitioned the Royal Society of London and received a grant of 150 pounds sterling to go to Padula and record first hand the devastation that had occurred. The resulting report was presented to the RSL as the “Report on the Great Neapolitan Earthquake of 1857”. This was a major scientific work and made great use of the latest research tool of photography to record the devastation caused by the earthquake.
Related article: Science Spin September 2009 issue
In 1838 he became a life member of the Royal Geological Society of Ireland located in the Dublin Customs House and acted as its President from 1846-48.
He presented to the RIA his most significant paper on 9th February 1846 on earthquake dynamics.
He is also responsible for coining the word “seismology” and other related “seismo” words e.g. the isoseismal map, which he used in his research.
The RIA awarded Mallet the Cunningham medal for his research into the theory of earthquakes on15th March 1862. Ironically, Mallet’s first experience of an earthquake happened in Dublin in 1840’s.
He was awarded an honorary D. Litt. from TCD, and in 1877 the prestigious Wollaston Medal, the Geological Society of London highest honour.
Category: Robert Mallet
Geophysics
David Stalling’s ‘Palace of Ships’, created as part of the Aerial/Sparks Galway2020 project. See more on the project, which is taking place on Inis Oírr until 27 September here…aerialsparks.org @louisemanifold1 @MarineInst @DStallingSound #Galway2020 #AerialSparks Retweeted by DIAS Geophysics
Date: 01 December 1943 Paper: The Irish Press Headline: Two Papers by Dr. Schroedinger Synopsis: 1943 was a busy year for Schroedinger. Not only did he deliver the "What is Life?" Lectures in @tcddublin in February in November he delivered two papers in the @RIAdawson (1/2) Retweeted by DIAS Geophysics
Ready for Culture Night today evening. @DIASDunsink @DIAS_Dublin @RCPCA1 @Fingalcoco @opwireland @petertgallagher @jm_astro @cm_jackman @drsophiemurray Retweeted by DIAS Geophysics
Looking forward to our Culture Night talks this evening! We still have some places available so if you're interested in attending, please register on Eventbrite @DIAS_Dublin @CultureNight #DIASdiscovers eventbrite.ie/e/earthquakes-…
CatchmentCARE project partners @GeolSurvIE are delighted to break ground at their #groundwater monitoring stations near Fintown. We will measure how the water table changes over the year. Understanding it helps protect and care for water for local people and wildlife in the area. Retweeted by DIAS Geophysics
@EOS_NUIG @iCRAGcentre @dias_geophysics @uccBEES @TCDOnTheRocks @UCD_Earth_Sci twitter.com/BritGeoSurvey/… Retweeted by DIAS Geophysics
@dias_geophysics have developed something special for @galway2020 in collaboration with composer David Stalling. It is an audio-visual composition “Palace of Ships,” based on sounds, images and seismic data from DIAS’ @SEA_SEIS Expeditions. More: dias.ie/2020/09/14/dia… Retweeted by DIAS Geophysics
On the @EGU_GMPV #EGUblogs this week they are exploring the experiences of #LGBTQIA+ researchers in Earth Sciences, across Europe and the world. Read more: egu.eu/1IN0UI/ Retweeted by DIAS Geophysics
Beautiful little sketch by @ScienceMagazine showing the variety of sources that contribute to the signals that we record on seismometers - not just earthquakes. Nice independent perspective of our recent COVID seismic noise paper, too: science.sciencemag.org/content/369/65… Retweeted by DIAS Geophysics
Tune in to "The Organ of Consciousness" @ArsElectronica at 5pm Irish time this evening (6pm UTC+2) to talk about the intersection of art, science and the world with Chris Bean of @DIAS_Dublin and others #DIASdiscovers ars.electronica.art/keplersgardens…
Chris will be collaborating with artist @SioMcDonald as part of the STUDIOPIA residency siobhanmcdonald.com
If you missed our guest speaker Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell on @PatKennyNT this morning you can listen to the podcast here: newstalk.com/shows/pat-kenn… There are some tickets left for this evenings lecture: eventbrite.ie/e/the-last-and… Retweeted by DIAS Geophysics
Looking forward to the premier of David Stalling’s audio-visual composition tomorrow on Inis Oírr: galway2020.ie/en/news/galway… - a collaboration with @DIAS_Dublin scientists under Aerial/Sparks at @galway2020. @scienceirel @GeolSurvIE @Education_Ire @iCRAGcentre @dias_geophysics Retweeted by DIAS Geophysics
Behind lava & pyroclastic flows, what’s going on inside volcanoes? @seis_matters explains how geoscientists use seismic data to scan volcanic plumbing systems youtu.be/jYuA_2SEokI Get more geoscience content all week from the pros at #BlackInGeoscienceWeek @BlkinGeoscience Retweeted by DIAS Geophysics
In collaboration with @DIAS_Dublin seismologists, David Stalling created music and visual art using sonification and visualization of the seismic data from Ireland Array onshore and SEA-SEIS offshore Ireland. @scienceirel @GeolSurvIE @Education_Ire @iCRAGcentre @dias_geophysics Retweeted by DIAS Geophysics
We are at Ars Electronica Festival 2020! Our video: ars.electronica.art/keplersgardens… - composer David Stalling, seismologist Sergei Lebedev, sounds of seismic data and stunning SEA-SEIS expedition imagery. @DIAS_Dublin @scienceirel @GeolSurvIE @Education_Ire @iCRAGcentre @dias_geophysics Retweeted by DIAS Geophysics
ONLINE THIS WEEK! Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell will guide us through The last and Next 100 Years of Astronomy! Tickets: eventbrite.ie/e/the-last-and… @RIAdawson @I_LOFAR @ArmaghPlanet @blackrockcastle @Dr_Niamh_Shaw @ucdscience @TCD_physics @SpaceNorah @mathsweek @scienceirel twitter.com/IrishTimes/sta… Retweeted by DIAS Geophysics
This week, we are focusing on #BlackinGeoscienceWeek 🌍 In our editorial, @TheDroneLady, @HendrattaAli and @C_Poku93 tell us about the motivation behind the event and what they hope it will achieve, and we suggest ways you can support @BlkinGeoscience! geoscienceforthefuture.com/blackingeoscie… Retweeted by DIAS Geophysics
The first ever Black in Geoscience Week will be taking place from Sunday 6th September–Saturday 12th Sept. Most activities will take place on social media We’ll be adding to this document throughout the week, so keep checking back. docs.google.com/document/d/1hH… Retweeted by DIAS Geophysics
If you are interested in learning more about Haleh's work, she will be discussing groundwater as a geohazard in an open talk on Culture Night: eventbrite.ie/e/earthquakes-…