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 Copy Share Image
Emphasis was usually put on the horizontal acceleration factor, for the simple reason that ordinary structures have a built-in safety factor for the vertical… — Charles Francis Richter Copy Share Image
Nothing is less predictable than the development of an active scientific field. — Charles Francis Richter Copy Share Image
The rose does not bloom without thorns. True, but would that the thorns did not outlive the rose. — Charles Francis Richter Copy Share Image
Refining is inevitable in science when you have made measurements of a phenomenon for a long period of time. — Charles Francis Richter Copy Share Image
As seismologists gained more experience from earthquake records, it became obvious that the problem could not be reduced to a single peak acceleration. In… — Charles Francis Richter Copy Share Image
No joy in nature is so sublimely affecting as the joy of a mother at the good fortune of a child. — Charles Francis Richter Copy Share Image
The laboratory routine, which involves a great deal of measurement, filing, and tabulation, is either my lifeline or my chief handicap, I hardly know… — Charles Francis Richter Copy Share Image
I repeatedly have to correct this belief. In a sense, magnitude involves steps of 10 because every increase of one magnitude represents a tenfold… — Charles Francis Richter Copy Share Image
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… — Charles Francis Richter Copy Share
From here, it becomes an engineering problem; the engineer considers the ground motion that will occur and evaluates the requirements of the proposed structure… — Charles Francis Richter Copy Share Image
If the assumptions used in calculating energy are changed, then this seriously affects the final result, even though the same body of data might… — Charles Francis Richter Copy Share Image
There is another common misapprehension that the magnitude scale is itself some kind of instrument or apparatus. Visitors will frequently ask to 'see the… — Charles Francis Richter Copy Share Image
