Summary

While living in Japan, John Milne (1850-1913) sought to study the 1880 Yokohama earthquake, soon realising that scientists lacked the proper tools. Aided by colleagues, he went on to develop the necessary instrumentation, and by 1896 he had built the first seismograph capable of recording major earthquakes in any part of the world. His textbook Earthquakes and Other Earth Movements (also reissued in this series) had appeared in 1886. In this follow-up work, published in 1898, Milne continues to discuss the nature of earthquakes, the methods and equipment needed to investigate them, and how to apply this knowledge to construction. He references the research, hypotheses and formulae of modern scientists, also noting in passing the suggestions made by earlier authors on the causes of seismic activity. The text is accompanied by many diagrams, especially of experimental apparatus, and several photographs illustrate damaged buildings and bridges.