Jesús Emilio Ramírez González (1904–1981) was a Colombian

geophysicist Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and properties of Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. Geophysicists conduct investigations acros ...

and

seismologist Seismology (; from Ancient Greek σεισμός (''seismós'') meaning "earthquake" and -λογία (''-logía'') meaning "study of") is the scientific study of earthquakes (or generally, quakes) and the generation and propagation of elastic ...

. Born in Yolombó, Antioquia, he earned a M.S. (1931) and PhD (1939) at

Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Missi ...

under James B. Macelwane. In the late 1930, he and Macelwane invented a system with that was able to track storms out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean using

seismograph A seismometer is an instrument that responds to ground displacement and shaking such as caused by quakes, volcanic eruptions, and explosions. They are usually combined with a timing device and a recording device to form a seismograph. The out ...

s. He was able to show that "

microseism In seismology, a microseism is defined as a faint earth tremor caused by natural phenomena. Sometimes referred to as a "hum", it should not be confused with the anomalous acoustic phenomenon of the The Hum, same name. The term is most commonly used ...

s were traveling, rather than

standing wave In physics, a standing wave, also known as a stationary wave, is a wave that oscillates in time but whose peak amplitude profile does not move in space. The peak amplitude of the wave oscillations at any point in space is constant with respect t ...

s and that their origins could be traced to storms at sea". With Spanish meteorologist Simón Sarasola he co-founded the Geophysical Institute of the Colombian Andes and was its director for 38 years. He was a president of the Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas and the Centro Regional de Sismologia de America del Sur (CERESIS) The Jesús Emilio Ramírez González Planetarium of Medellín is named for him.

References

1904 births 1981 deaths Seismologists Geophysicists 20th-century Colombian scientists Saint Louis University alumni People from Antioquia Department Colombian physicists {{Colombia-scientist-stub