John Milne (1850 – 1913) was born and educated in Lancashire. When the family moved south his education continued as an undergraduate in the Department of Applied Sciences, King’s College London. His distinguished science-based studies, in particular geology and mineralogy, helped gain him one of the coveted Royal Exhibition scholarships to the Royal School of Mines.

During 1873 and 1874 he was recruited for an expedition to assess the geology and mineral resources of Newfoundland in the employment of Cyrus Field, an American financier and entrepreneur. In between his Newfoundland commitment, Milne participated as field geologist on a three month biblical expedition sent out by the Royal Geographical Society to the Middle East with the intention of fixing the exact location of Mount Sinai. During his field investigation Milne collected 77 rock specimens, 22 of which were examined microscopically by Thomas Davies, F.G.S., of the British Museum. This early experience in the field provided an academic platform that would ultimately play an important part in Milne becoming Professor of Geology and Mining at the newly established Imperial College of Engineering (I.C.E.) in Tokyo.

On acceptance of his newly acquired position, two factors may have influenced Milne to travel overland to Japan via Europe, Russia, Siberia, Mongolia and China rather than boarding a steam-ship. Firstly he was prone to sea-sickness, and secondly, Milne probably saw an overland route to Tokyo as an excellent opportunity to increase his geological and mining knowledge of the different country’s he would visit. At this time very little was known about the gold and copper mining regions in the Russia and Siberia that Milne made a point of visiting en-route.

During his tenure at I.C.E. the Japanese Government supported Milne’s numerous field trips to all parts of their country. Between 1876 and 1880 he had visited many of Japan’s volcanoes and had begun to develop a deep interest in the prehistory of the Japanese people. Milne’s interest in Japan’s archaeology and anthropology was stimulated by his contact with American I.C.E colleague Professor Morse. Although Milne and Morse collaborated in excavations on Hokkaido, eventually Milne would begin to distance himself from Morse’s interpretations. Many significant mineral resources were reported by Milne, particularly the large deposits of coal on Hokkaido. Milne’s field work throughout Japan was deemed vital by the current government to the strengthen the foundations of their emerging nation.

From 1880 Milne had already begun dedicating his available time to elevating “seismology” from a geological pastime into a modern ‘instrument-based’ science. For the next 15 years he was at the centre of the new Anglo-Japanese science of seismology. Milne founded the Seismological Society of Japan, the first such institution of its kind in the world. Nevertheless he continued to describe Japan’s geology in the societies transactions even though seismological issues were beginning to dominate his work and life.