Monday Morning Musings

This past weekend was a wonderful musical experience with two concerts at the Winnsboro Center for the Arts by Peter Yarrow and his son, Christopher Yarrow. What amazing talents! I was taken back to my younger days when the music of Peter, Paul and Mary awakened the idealist and activist in me. What heady days those were when we thought we could change the world. Peter is still spreading his message of love and peace and social justice with his music and his appearances. You can find out about Operation Respect and all the other wonderful things that Peter does at his website, Peter Yarrow.net

One of the greatest thrills for me this weekend was being on stage with Peter to sing “Puff the Magic Dragon”, along with my daughter, Dany and a few other folks from the audience.

Then on Sunday, we had the hootenanny, which was another high point for me to do music with my kids, Dany and Paul, along with Lynn Adler and Lindy Hearne. Adler & Hearne are professional singer/songwriters who call Winnsboro home when they are not touring, and I have always wanted to make music with them, so we made a joyful noise this weekend.

The Strong Woman I want to honor today is Inge Lehmann (May 13, 1888 – February 21, 1993). She was a Danish seismologist and geophysicist who discovered the Earth’s inner core was not liquid, as formally believed.  In 1936, she used existing seismic data to support her theory that the earth has an inner core with physical properties distinct from the outer core’s and that Earth’s core is not a single molten sphere.

Continuing her scientific research by observing earthquakes, she discovered the earth has both inner and outer cores. Her work has withstood the test of time. In fact, it’s still the foundation for seismological science today.   When Inge moved to the United States, she collaborated with Maurice Ewing and Frank Press on investigations of Earth’s crust and upper mantle. This is when she discovered another seismic discontinuity, which lies at depths between 190 and 250 km and now bears her name, the Lehmann discontinuity. Francis Birch noted that the “Lehmann discontinuity was discovered through exacting scrutiny of seismic records by a master of a black art for which no amount of computerization is likely to be a complete substitute.”

Lehmann is also noted for her support of gender equality in education, and otherwise. She had the privilege of attending a school in Copenhagen that treated both genders equally, which was not a common thing at that time, and unfortunately still isn’t in too many places.

I am drawn to these early pioneers of science in part because I have a daughter and a granddaughter who are both scientists. My daughter, Dany, as a degree in geology, and my granddaughter, Ally, just got her PHd in biomedical engineering. Perhaps they can thank Inge for helping to pave the educational path for them.

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So how was your weekend? Anything special to share? Do leave a comment and let me know.