💬 SenQuotes.com
 Quotes

Charles Francis Richter Quotes

American seismologist and physicist (d. 1985), Birth: 26-4-1900, Death: 30-9-1985 Charles Francis Richter Quotes
1.
The usual designation of the magnitude scale to my name does less than justice to the great part that Dr. Gutenberg played in extending the scale to apply to earthquakes in all parts of the world.
Charles Francis Richter

2.
Nothing is less predictable than the development of an active scientific field.
Charles Francis Richter

3.
Don't wait for extraordinary circumstance to do good; try to use ordinary situations.
Charles Francis Richter

4.
As seismologists gained more experience from earthquake records, it became obvious that the problem could not be reduced to a single peak acceleration. In fact, a full frequency of vibrations occurs.
Charles Francis Richter

5.
Only fools, liars, and charlatans predict earthquakes
Charles Francis Richter

Similar Authors: Blaise Pascal Stephen Hawking Isaac Newton Nikola Tesla Michio Kaku Paul Davies Sally Ride Niels Bohr Arthur Eddington Steven Weinberg J. Robert Oppenheimer David Brin Werner Heisenberg Max Planck Michael Faraday
6.
I have a sense of humor; but over the years that sense has developed one blind spot. I can no longer laugh at ignorance or stupidity. Those are our chief enemies, and it is dangerous to make fun of them.
Charles Francis Richter

7.
The rose does not bloom without thorns. True, but would that the thorns did not outlive the rose.
Charles Francis Richter

8.
Spring makes everything young again except man.
Charles Francis Richter

Quote Topics by Charles Francis Richter: Science Earthquakes Men Nature Knowledge Life Procrastination Measurement Running Mirrors Waiting Limitation Lucky Lying Development Trying Thorns Might Thinking Doe Introducing Names Paradise Three Loss Spring Fall Fun Country Confusion
9.
Refining is inevitable in science when you have made measurements of a phenomenon for a long period of time.
Charles Francis Richter

10.
I was lucky because logarithmic plots are a device of the devil.
Charles Francis Richter

11.
If one introduces the concept of energy of an earthquake then that is a theoretically derived quantity.
Charles Francis Richter

12.
I would walk - not run - to the nearest seismograph.
Charles Francis Richter

13.
Most loss of life and property has been due to the collapse of antiquated and unsafe structures, mostly of brick and other masonry. ... There is progress of California toward building new construction according to earthquake-resistant design. We would have less reason to ask for earthquake prediction if this was universal.
Charles Francis Richter

14.
Magnitude may be compared to the power output in kilowatts of a [radio] broadcasting station; local intensity, on the Mercalli or similar scale, is then comparable to the signal strength noted on a receiver at a given locality. Intensity, like signal strength, will generally fall off with distance from the source; it will also depend on local conditions at the point of observation, and to some extent on the conditions along the path from source to that point.
Charles Francis Richter

15.
The most remarkable feature about the magnitude scale was that it worked at all and that it could be extended on a worldwide basis. It was originally envisaged as a rather rough-and-ready procedure by which we could grade earthquakes. We would have been happy if we could have assigned just three categories, large, medium, and small; the point is, we wanted to avoid personal judgments. It actually turned out to be quite a finely tuned scale.
Charles Francis Richter

16.
My main point today is that usually one gets what one expects, but very rarely in the way one expected it.
Charles Francis Richter

17.
Remembrance is the only paradise out of which we cannot be driven away.
Charles Francis Richter

18.
In every area of the world where there is earthquake risk, there are still many buildings of this type; it is very frustrating to try to get rid of them.
Charles Francis Richter

19.
There is nothing more beautiful than cheerfulness in an old face, and among country people it is always a sign of a well-regulated life.
Charles Francis Richter

20.
If the assumptions used in calculating energy are changed, then this seriously affects the final result, even though the same body of data might be used.
Charles Francis Richter

21.
According to Democritus, truth lies at the bottom of a well, the water of which serves as a mirror in which objects may be reflected. I have heard, however, that some philosophers, in seeking for truth, to pay homage to her, have seen their own image and adored it instead.
Charles Francis Richter

22.
Lately there have been complaints that the use of the magnitude scale is confusing, or at least the reporting of magnitudes in the newspapers 'confuses the public.
Charles Francis Richter

23.
[In plotting earthquake measurements] the range between the largest and smallest magnitudes seemed unmanageably large. Dr. Beno Gutenberg then made the natural suggestion to plot the amplitudes logarithmically.
Charles Francis Richter

24.
It is a common remark that men talk most who think least; just as frogs cease their quacking when a light is brought to the water-side.
Charles Francis Richter

25.
it is good to have measured myself, to recognize my limitations.
Charles Francis Richter

26.
No joy in nature is so sublimely affecting as the joy of a mother at the good fortune of a child.
Charles Francis Richter

27.
The laboratory routine, which involves a great deal of measurement, filing, and tabulation, is either my lifeline or my chief handicap, I hardly know which.
Charles Francis Richter