Erskine Douglas Williamson, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Erskine Douglas Williamson

Date of Birth: 10-Apr-1886

Place of Birth: Scotland, United Kingdom

Date of Death: 25-Dec-1923

Profession: physicist

Zodiac Sign: Aries

Erskine Douglas Williamson (born 10 April 1886 in Edinburgh – 25 December 1923) was a Scottish geophysicist.
Following degrees from the University of Edinburgh and a period on a Research Scholarship from the Carnegie Trust of Scotland, he was hired in 1914 by the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution in Washington DC, USA.
In the nine years till his early death in 1923, he became known for experimental studies and theoretical calculations in high-pressure physics, physical chemistry, petrology, glass science and geodynamics.
Shortly before his death, he published with L.
H.
Adams what is regarded as one of the most important contributions to geophysics in the first half of the 20th century.
The famous Adams-Williamson equation derived in that paper laid the theoretical foundations for determining the interior structure of the Earth from seismic velocities, and remains widely known and used to this day.