Sometime in the early 1970s, Dr Ronald (Ron) Girdler, University of Newcastle, UK, made a plea for someone in the seismology group at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE), UK, to write a book on earthquake seismology based on the AWE's research in forensic seismology, that is, seismology applied to the verification of nuclear test bans. The principal purpose of the research was to provide comprehensive advice on forensic seismology on which the UK government could base its policy for the control of underground nuclear tests. The work at the AWE, however, has applications to seismology in general which was what interested Ron Girdler.

The UK's forensic seismology programme began at the AWE in the late 1950s. Work was carried out at both AWE Aldermaston (principally on the design and manufacture of seismological recording systems) and at the outstation AWE Foulness (on decoupling, seismogram analysis and seismometry). In 1961, much of the forensic seismology work moved to an unclassified site at Blacknest, a country house near AWE Aldermaston. Over the next ten years forensic seismology research at the AWE was increasingly concentrated at Blacknest.

I and my colleagues at AWE Blacknest, Peter Marshall and Frederick (Fred) Key, produced a rough draft of a possible book but it was clear from the draft that: some of the subjects covered, such as the application of seismometer arrays in seismology were then still undeveloped; the analogue recording and processing systems then used were obsolescent; and overall, the range of subjects covered was too limited.