The papers of Beno Gutenberg
Finding aid created by California Institute of Technology staff using RecordEXPRESS
California Institute of Technology
2014
1200 East California Blvd., Mail Code 015A-74
Pasadena, California 91125
(626) 395-2704
archives@caltech.edu
http://archives.caltech.edu/
Title: The papers of Beno Gutenberg
Dates: 1908-1962
Collection Number: 10038-MS
Creator/Collector:
Archives staff.
Extent: 25 linear feet
Repository:
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, California 91125
Abstract: The papers include personal, Caltech related, and professional correspondence; government and technical files, data pads and
notebooks, reprints, and biographical and personal material.
Language of Material: English
The collection is open for research. Researchers must apply in writing for access.
The papers of Beno Gutenberg. California Institute of Technology
The Papers of Beno Gutenberg were given to the Archives by the Seismological Laboratory of Caltech, in several installments,
from 1976 through 2010.
Biography/Administrative History
Beno Gutenberg was born in 1889 in Darmstadt, Germany. He obtained his doctorate in physics from the University of Göttingen.
He came to the California Institute of Technology in 1930 as Professor of Geophysics. Gutenberg, together with Charles Richter,
played a pivotal role in developing seismology into an international science of earthquake study and detection.
From 1946 to 1957, Gutenberg was the Director of the Seismology Laboratory. He made the first exact determination of the radius
of earth's core; he was the authority on earthquakes and the propagation of sound in the atmosphere. He became the technical
advisor to US Navy on use of microseisms to locate hurricanes and typhoons. Gutenberg died in 1960 in Pasadena, California.
Scope and Content of Collection
Series 1, Personal Correspondence, contains communications with individuals and is arranged in alphabetical sequence.
Series 2, Correspondence and Documents-Caltech, contains documents of the Division of Geological Sciences, especially files
and reports.
Series 3, Correspondence and Documents – Professional Organizations and Meetings, contains correspondence with the main American
Geophysical Union, National Academy of Sciences, the Seismological Society of America.
Series 4, Publication Correspondence and Related Documents, includes correspondence about books publication
Series 5, Technical Files,contains notes, manuscripts, photographs and course notes.
Series 6, United States Government Files, includes, among others, files on the Geophysical Research Directorate, on the United
States Coast and Geodetic Survey and reports on microseisms and hurricanes.
Series 7, Biographical and Personal Material, contains also honors and appointments, and Nobel Prize nominations.
Series 8, Unprocessed Technical Material, contains data pads, miscellaneous data, seismograms and reprints, photocopies from
several German Universities provided by Professor Johannes Schweitzer, reports and International Seismological Summaries.
Geophysics
Richter, Charles