Berkeley Seismological Laboratory

PHOTOS

 0) Perhaps the first "seismologist", Chang Heng, in about 132 A.D.
    His seismoscope operated with an inverted pendulum. The first
    impulse from an earthquake caused a ball to fall from a dragon's
    mouth down to a frog. From the ball which fell he imputed the
    direction to the earthquake.

 1) Edward S. Holden, President of the University of California
    1885-1888 (University Portrait).
    
 2) Edward S. Holden with staff of Lick Observatory (Lick Observaatory
    established by gift from James Lick in 1874; accepted by the Regents
    as the Lick Astronomical Department of the University in 1888. He
    was instrumental for installing seismographs at Lick Observatory
    in 1887 (to observe earthquakes that might affect his sensitive
    telescopes).
    
 3 & 4) Description of the new seismographs in the first journal of
    the Astronomy Department.
    
 5) Drawing of the two seismographs installed at the Lick Observatory
    (MHC) and at the student observatory on the U.C.Berkely Campus
    (BRK). (This site was on Observatory Hill, now in front of McCone
    Hall housing the Berkeley Seismological Laboratory, the Earth And
    Planetary Science and Geography Departments, and the Earth Sciences
    Library.
    
 6, 7 & 8) Seismograms of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake created
    by the instruments above.
    
 9) Student astronomers at the facilities on Observatory Hill on the
    U.C. Berkeley Campus (circa 1890).
    
10 & 10A) Building which held the seismometers on Observatory Hill. The
    BRK station was eventually moved to the Bancroft Library, and
    subsequently to Haviland Hall where they remain today...of
    course they have been replaced by more and more modern
    instruments over the years. All of the observatory buildings
    remained until the mid-1950's, when most were removed (the
    partial walls of two of them still stand; they are supporting
    some very rare foliage that the campus didn't want to be
    disturbed).
     
11 & 12) Portraits of Andrew Lawson.
 
13) The University provided that there be a "Director" of "The
    Seismographic Stations in 1925. Photo of the first Director,
    Perry Byerly, and Andrew Lawson with three others.
     
14) Photo of many of the most famous seismologists of their time (and
    ours) at Pasadena in 1929 (The building at the left is the Field
    of Seismology Lab, Cal Tech, Pasadena.) 
       
    From Perry Byerly's Handwritten Notes:
    
    "Conference on future of Seismological Laboratory, 1929)
    
    Back Row:
    "X, Perry Byerly, Harry Fielding Reid, John Anderson, Father Macelwane"
    
    Front Row:
    "X, Leason Adams, Hugo Benioff, Beno Gutenberg, Harold Jeffreys,
     Charles Richter, Arthur Day, Harry Wood, Ralph Arnold, John P. Buwalda"
 
    ("X" refers to assistants to Harry Wood whom Perry did not know.)

15) Wiechert 160 Kg Pendulum Seismograph, manufactured by Spindler and Hoyer,
    Gottingen, Germany, 1910. In 1907, W.R. Hearst contributed funds
    for new seismographs. Wiechert seismographs operated at Mt. Hamilton
    and Berkeley from 1911 until 1957.