author
Thomas Augustus Jaggar
1871–1953
A pioneering American volcanologist, he turned the study of eruptions into a careful, on-the-ground science. He is best known for founding the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and helping make Hawaii a center for volcano research.
1 Audiobook
My experiments with volcanoes
by Thomas Augustus Jaggar
About the author
Born in Philadelphia in 1871, Thomas Augustus Jaggar Jr. studied geology at Harvard and went on to become one of the leading volcanologists of his time. He believed volcanoes should be observed continuously and directly, not just described after the fact.
That idea led to his most lasting achievement: the founding of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory in 1912. From Hawaii, he spent decades studying active volcanoes and building systems for monitoring eruptions, earthquakes, and lava movement in ways that shaped modern volcanology.
Jaggar remained closely associated with Hawaiian volcano research until his retirement in 1940, and his name stayed attached to the history of Kilauea for generations. He died in 1953, remembered as a scientist who brought patience, fieldwork, and public purpose to the study of some of Earth's most dramatic forces.