In today’s post from the People of Science series, the silhouette of Dane, Mrs. Inga Lehmann, seismologists. In the 1940s, she compared earthquake data and thanks to this, based on the propagation of seismic waves, she discovered what was hidden in the inner core of the Earth. She graduated in mathematics from the University of Copenhagen and the University of Cambridge. Initially, she was not related to science, she worked as an insurer. Changing her job, she found herself as an assistant geodesist and this is how she became interested in seismology. In 1936, she presented her own interpretation of the composition of the Earth’s core. She showed that it contains two parts: a solid inner core and a liquid outer core. These parts are separated by a border zone, which was later named after Mrs. Inga “the Lechmann discontinuity”. Unfortunately, the occupation of Denmark thwarted the further plans and development of the heroine of today’s post. A few years after the war, she moved to the United States, where she continued to work on Earth-related research – the crust and mantle. She received many awards for outstanding achievements in science, and an award signed with her name was also established.
AUTHOR: mgr inż. Renata Kowalczyk