Robert Mallet FRS MRIA (3 June 1810 – 5 November 1881) was an Irish geophysicist, civil engineer, and inventor who distinguished himself by research concerning earthquakes (and is sometimes known as the father of seismology).

[citation needed] On 9 February 1846 he presented to the Royal Irish Academy his paper, "On the Dynamics Of Earthquakes",[4] which is considered to be one of the origins of modern seismology.

[5] From 1852 to 1858, he was prepared (with his son, John William Mallet) his work, The Earthquake Catalogue of the British Association (1858),[6] and performed blasting experiments to determine the speed of seismic propagation in sand and solid rock.

[citation needed] During the Crimean War he designed a 42-long-ton (43 t) mortar of 36 inches (910 mm) calibre capable of throwing a 2,400 pounds (1,100 kg) shell a distance of 1.5 miles (2.4 km).

[citation needed] Mallet was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1854, and in 1861 relocated to London, where he became a consulting engineer and edited The Practical Mechanic's Journal.