Li Siguang
Li Siguang (1889-1971), one of China's most famous geologists, founded a branch of geology called geomechanics, which deals with the stresses and strains on the earth's crust. Geomechanics studies how soil and rock behave in response to natural forces. He also made important contributions to the sciences of paleontology (study of fossils), glaciology (study of glaciers), and seismology (study of earthquakes).
Li was born on Oct. 26, 1889, in Huanggang County, Hubei (or Hupeh) province, China. He studied science in Japan and the United Kingdom, studying geology at Birmingham University in England. In 1920, he became a professor in the geology department of Beijing University. In 1927, he was appointed director of the Institute of Geology of Academia Sinica, then in Nanjing. When Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences was established in 1951, Li became its first director.
In the early 1930's, Li explored the rivers and mountains of China, developing his geological theories. After the Communists established the People's Republic of China in 1949, he became minister of geology.
After Li founded the discipline of geological mechanics, or geomechanics, theories of geomechanics played a vital part in the oil industry of China. In 1954, he began conducting a petroleum survey in parts of China, and over several years, he discovered several major oil fields. Later, Li and other geologists discovered deposits of tungsten, chromium, uranium, diamond, coal, and rare mineral resources.
Li wrote many essays concerning earthquakes and other geology topics. He also wrote the books Quaternary Glaciation in the Lushan Area, Central China (1947), and Introduction to Geomechanics (1962). His Geology of China (1939) was published in several languages and introduced the country's geological formations to the West for the first time.
By 1970, an 81-year-old Li still traversed mountains and rivers to make seismological observations and obtain geological specimens. He died in 1971.