To Robert Thomson 23 May 1878
Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.
May 23rd 1878
Dear Sir,
I am sorry to say that so many years have elapsed since I have attended to the subject of earthquakes that I am quite incapable of expressing any opinion on your views.1 When Mr Mallet’s paper on earthquakes, appeared, I well remember regretting that I had published any speculations on the subject, for it became clear to me that a man, to do any good work on this subject, must be deeply versed with respect to wave-motions both in solids & fluids.2
I remain dear Sir, | Yours faithfully | Charles Darwin
Footnotes
Bibliography
Mallet, Robert. 1846. On the dynamics of earthquakes; being an attempt to reduce their observed phenomena to the known laws of wave motion in solids and fluids. [Read 9 February 1846.] Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy 21: 51–105.
Summary
Cannot express opinion on RT’s views on earthquakes. To do good work on that subject a man must be deeply versed in wave motions.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-11525
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Robert Thomson
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- John Hay Library, Brown University (Albert E. Lownes Manuscript Collection, MS.84.2)
- Physical description
- LS 2pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 11525,” accessed on 29 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-11525.xml