Quantitative Seismology: Theory and Methods [Hardcover]

Keiiti Aki (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0935702962 | ISBN-13: 978-0935702965 | Publication Date: July 2002 | Edition: 2

This updated edition provides a unified treatment of seismological methods.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Now brought up to date throughout, this book will remain "The Bible" of the subject for years to come." -- Bruce R. Julian, USGS

"Still the preeminent text on analytic theory and methods in seismology." -- D.J. Andrews, USGS

"This text deserves a place in every serious geophysicist's library." -- The Leading Edge, March 2003

About the Author

Keiiti Aki now resides on Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean, after a distinguished career that included faculty appointments for many years at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Southern California. He carries out research on volcano seismology and maintains a vigorous schedule of global travel and lecturing.

Paul Richards has taught and conducted research for many years at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, where his work has turned to methods of monitoring earthquakes and underground nuclear explosions. His current research is focused on improving the accuracy with which earthquakes and explosions are routinely located around the world.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 704 pages
• Publisher: University Science Books; 2 edition (July 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0935702962
• ISBN-13: 978-0935702965
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 7.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,867,589 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fundamental in a seismologist preparedness, June 30, 2005

By 

ingénieur en géophysique (Mexico) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Quantitative Seismology: Theory and Methods (Hardcover)

Many descriptions in seismology requires a complete understanding of the theory that support the seismological phenomena. Quantitative Seismology shows you all the fundamental concepts and prepare you for more advanced developments. Its not an introductory textbook, you need a formal background in physics and mathematics. The preface in 1st edition begins: "Seismology has matured as a quantitative science... and several specialized journals recorded this progress...", with this book you'll not obtain only the essentials of this progress; also the essentials of an enjoyable, mature and complete science.

For reference the table of contents:

1.- Introduction
2.- Basic Theorems in Dynamic Elasticity
3.- Representation of Seismic Sources
4.- Elastic Waves from a point of Dislocation Source
5.- Plane Waves in Homogeneous Media and their Reflection and Transmission at a Plane Boundary
6.- Reflection and Refraction of Spherical Waves; Lamb's Problem
7.- Surface Waves in a Vertically Heterogeneous Medium
8.- Free Oscillations of the Earth
9.- Body Waves in Media with depth-dependent properties
10.- The Seismic Source: Kinematics
11.- The Seismic Source: Dynamics
12.- Principles of Seismometry

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A little hard to swallow, but worth the time., July 18, 2005

By 

J. Fox (Golden, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Quantitative Seismology: Theory and Methods (Hardcover)

As a first year graduate student, this was the required text in my very first course in seismology! Boy was I intimidated! I had only taken calculus up through ODE's so much of the material in this book was difficult for me to comprehend. I had no clue what a Green's function was. However, I had a good professor and TA and took extensive notes to get by. Fortunately we only used chapters 2,3,4 and 5. Do yourself a favor if you have to use this book, and you're not a calc/physics guru, by obtaining the Stein/Wysession book. It is a lot more user friendly and application oriented. I used that book in a course the next semester on earthquake seismology and a lightbulb came on! I now understood better what Aki and Richards were talking about! I could go back to it as a reference to gain a deeper understanding. As they say, 'Quantitative Seismology' is the "bible" of the subject and so should be in your library. However, it is more of a reference for experienced users.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent book on wave propagation, August 27, 2006

By 

Heng Shan Hu - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Quantitative Seismology: Theory and Methods (Hardcover)

This is a very good book. Well organized and in detail. Many topics that appeared in literature but not included in ordinary books are explained in a unified style by the authors.