Inge Lehmann

Inge Lehmann (13 May 1888 – 21 February 1993) was a Danish seismologist and geophysicist.

In 1925, Lehmann was the assistant of seismologist Niels Erik Nørlund. In 1928, she was made head of the Geodætisk Institut's seismological department. In 1936, she co-founded the Danish Geophysical Society.

She used mathematics to analyze the way energy released by earthquakes travels through the Earth. She discovered that at its center, the Earth is solid. In fact, it has a solid inner core and a liquid outer core.

Lehmann is remarkable in that she is one of the longest-lived scientists in history, living to 104 years of age.

Lehmann's father was Alfred Georg Ludvik Lehmann, a professor of psychology. Her mother was Ida Sophie Torsleff. She attended a school founded by Hanna Adler. This school was unusual because both boys and girls were treated as equals. Lehmann's teachers saw her interest in mathematics and gave her more complex problems to solve. Her parents did not want Lehmann to do the extra work because they did not see her as able to do it. Lehmann was really just bored with the work she was given. In 1906, she got into the University of Copenhagen with the best grades. She studied mathematics, chemistry, and physics in 1907. She graduated in 1920.

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