J J Shaw modified John Milne's seismograph to give magnification up to 500 times. Shaw gained magnification by a combination of optical and photographic means. This seismograph, the first of its type, was given to the Science Museum by the British Asociation for the Advancement of Science, whose seismology reports form a valuable historical resource for the study of seismology in Britain. Milne (1851-1913) was a brilliant English geologist who lived and worked in Tokyo, Japan, and is regarded as the founding father of seismology.
© Science Museum / Science & Society Picture Library