Patrick Willmore
Quick Facts
Biography
Dr Patrick ("Pat") Lever Willmore FRSE (1921–1994) was a 20th-century British seismologist remembered as inventor of the Willmore seismometer. In authorship he is P. L. Willmore.
He was Director of the Institute of Geological Science.
Life
From 1946 to 1952 he was a Research Fellow at St John's College, Cambridge specialising in seismic activity. In 1952 he was appointed government Seismologist at the Dominion Observatory in Ottawa in Canada.
In 1952 he was commissioned to investigate volcanic activity on the island of St Vincent in the Caribbean and concluded that the source of volcanic activity could not be located during or after the event and concluded that sensitive areas required continual monitoring by a seismometer.
He returned to Cambridge University 1961/62 then became Senior Seismologist at the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh. Although elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh he resigned in 1980.
Dr Geoffrey Robson studied under him.
Publications
- Manual of Seismological Observatory Practice (1960)
- Seismology