Alfred Lothar Wegener (1 November 1880 – November 1930) was a
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
scientistA scientist, in the broadest sense, is any person who engages in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge or an individual that engages in such practices and traditions that are linked to schools of thought or philosophy. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the...
,
geologistFor other uses, see Geologist .A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth and terrestrial planets...
, and meteorologist.
He is most notable for his theory of
continental driftContinental drift is the movement of the Earth's continents relative to each other. The hypothesis that continents 'drift' was first put forward by Abraham Ortelius in 1596 and was fully developed by Alfred Wegener in 1912...
(
Kontinentalverschiebung), proposed in 1915, which hypothesized that the
continentA continent is one of several large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criterion, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents – they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.Plate tectonics is...
s were slowly drifting around the Earth. However, Wegener was unable to demonstrate a mechanism for continental drift, which, combined with his mostly
circumstantial evidenceCircumstantial evidence is evidence which requires or allows a trier of fact to make an inference which supports the truth of an assertion . That is, the evidence only supports indirectly the truth of the assertion...
, meant that his hypothesis was not accepted until the 1950s, when numerous discoveries provided evidence of continental drift.
Alfred had early training in
astronomyAstronomy is the scientific study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the Earth's atmosphere...
and biology.
Alfred Lothar Wegener (1 November 1880 – November 1930) was a
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
scientistA scientist, in the broadest sense, is any person who engages in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge or an individual that engages in such practices and traditions that are linked to schools of thought or philosophy. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the...
,
geologistFor other uses, see Geologist .A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth and terrestrial planets...
, and meteorologist.
He is most notable for his theory of
continental driftContinental drift is the movement of the Earth's continents relative to each other. The hypothesis that continents 'drift' was first put forward by Abraham Ortelius in 1596 and was fully developed by Alfred Wegener in 1912...
(
Kontinentalverschiebung), proposed in 1915, which hypothesized that the
continentA continent is one of several large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criterion, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents – they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.Plate tectonics is...
s were slowly drifting around the Earth. However, Wegener was unable to demonstrate a mechanism for continental drift, which, combined with his mostly
circumstantial evidenceCircumstantial evidence is evidence which requires or allows a trier of fact to make an inference which supports the truth of an assertion . That is, the evidence only supports indirectly the truth of the assertion...
, meant that his hypothesis was not accepted until the 1950s, when numerous discoveries provided evidence of continental drift.
Career
Alfred had early training in
astronomyAstronomy is the scientific study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the Earth's atmosphere...
and biology. In 1905, Wegener earned his
Ph.D.Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated PhD , for the Latin , meaning "teacher of philosophy", or alternatively, DPhil, for the equivalent , is an advanced academic degree awarded by universities...
in
astronomyAstronomy is the scientific study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the Earth's atmosphere...
from the University of Berlin. However Wegener was always interested in the developing fields of
meteorologyMeteorology is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the atmosphere that focuses on weather processes and forecasting . Studies in the field stretch back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not occur until the eighteenth century...
and
climatologyClimatology is the study of climate, scientifically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of time, and is a branch of the atmospheric sciences...
. He was a record-holding
balloonistA balloon is a type of aircraft that remains aloft due to its buoyancy. A balloon travels by moving with the wind. It is distinct from an airship, which is a buoyant aircraft that can be propelled through the air in a controlled manner....
(flying a balloon in the air for 52 hours straight) and pioneered the use of
weather balloonA weather or sounding balloon is a balloon which carries instruments aloft to send back information on atmospheric pressure, temperature, and humidity by means of a small, expendable measuring device called a radiosonde...
s to track
air massIn meteorology, an air mass is a large volume of air defined by its temperature and water vapor content. Air masses cover many hundreds or thousands of square miles, and adopt the characteristics of the surface below them. They are classified according to latitude and their continental or...
es. His lectures,
The Thermodynamics of the Atmosphere, became a standard textbook in meteorology. Wegener was involved in several expeditions to
GreenlandGreenland is an autonomous constituent country within the Kingdom of Denmark located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago...
to study
polarA geographical pole is either of the two points—the north pole and the south pole—on the surface of a rotating planet where the axis of rotation meets the surface of the body...
air circulation before the existence of the
jet streamJet streams are fast flowing, narrow air currents found in the atmosphere of planets at the tropopause, the transition between the troposphere and the stratosphere . The major jet streams on earth are westerly winds...
was accepted. He along with J.P. Koch were the first to winter on the inland ice in a hut they built on the ice in Northeast Greenland. Inside the hut they drilled to a depth of 25 m with an auger.
In 1930, his last expedition was to Greenland to conduct the first 12-month monitoring of arctic weather. Wegener felt responsible for the expeditions success as the
German governmentThe Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government, named after Weimar, the place where the constitutional assembly took place. Its official name was still Deutsches Reich , however...
contributed $120,000 ($1.5 million in 2007 dollars) at a time when Germans were starving to death due to post war shortages. This success depended on enough provisions being transferred from West camp to "
Mid-IceEismitte, in English also called Mid-Ice, was the site of an Arctic expedition in the interior of Greenland that took place from July 1930 through August 1931, and claimed the life of noted German scientist Alfred Wegener....
" (
EismitteEismitte, in English also called Mid-Ice, was the site of an Arctic expedition in the interior of Greenland that took place from July 1930 through August 1931, and claimed the life of noted German scientist Alfred Wegener....
) for two men to winter there and was a factor in the decision that led to his death. Due to a late thaw the expedition was six weeks behind schedule and as summer ended the men at
Eismitte sent a message that they had insufficient fuel so would return on October 20.
On September 24, although the route markers were by now largely buried by snow, Wegener set out with thirteen Greenlanders and his meteorologist Fritz Loewe to supply the camp by dog sled. During the journey the temperature reached and Loewe's toes became so frostbitten they had to be amputated with a penknife without anaesthetic. Twelve of the Greenlanders returned to West camp. On October 19. the remaining three members of the expedition reached
Eismitte.
With only enough supplies for three at
Eismitte, Wegener and Rasmus Villumsen took two dog sleds and made for West camp. They took no food for the dogs and culled them to feed the rest until they could only run one sled. While Villumsen rode the sled, Wegener had to use skis. They never reached the camp.
Death
On May 12, 1931, Wegener's body was found in Greenland buried in a sleeping bag cover six months later. He was found halfway between
Eismitte and West camp. At 50 years of age and a heavy smoker his suspected cause of death was heart failure through overexertion.
Villumsen was never found. It is unlikely Villumsen's body will ever be recovered as it is estimated that due to accumulation of ice it now lies at a depth of more than .
Continental drift
Alfred Wegener first thought of this idea by noticing that the different large landmasses of the Earth almost fitted together like a jigsaw. America fitted closely to Africa & Europe, and Antarctica, Australia, India and Madagascar fitted next to the tip of Southern Africa.
In 1915 Alfred Wegener proposed this, but it wasn't seemed as good enough evidence in itself.
So Wegener began his search for evidence. He analysed either side of the Atlantic Ocean for rock type, geological structures and fossils. He noticed that there was a significant similarity.
From 1912, Wegener publicly advocated the theory of "
continental driftContinental drift is the movement of the Earth's continents relative to each other. The hypothesis that continents 'drift' was first put forward by Abraham Ortelius in 1596 and was fully developed by Alfred Wegener in 1912...
", arguing that all the continents were once joined together in a single landmass and have drifted apart.
In 1915, in
The Origin of Continents and Oceans (
Die Entstehung der Kontinente und Ozeane), Wegener published the theory that there had once been a giant continent, he named "
PangaeaPangaea, Pangæa, or Pangea was the supercontinent that existed during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras about 250 million years ago, before the component continents were separated into their current configuration.The name was first used by the German originator of the continental...
" (meaning "All-Lands" or "All-Earth") and drew together evidence from various fields. Expanded editions during the 1920s presented the accumulating evidence. The last edition, just before his untimely death, revealed the significant observation that shallower oceans were geologically younger.
Reaction
In his work, Wegener presented a large amount of circumstantial evidence in support of continental drift, but he was unable to come up with a convincing
mechanismMechanism may refer to:*Mechanism , explaining how a feature is created* Mechanism , explaining a reaction pathway*Mechanism , a theory that all natural phenomena can be explained by physical causes...
. Thus, while his ideas attracted a few early supporters such as
Alexander Du ToitAlexander Logie du Toit was a geologist from South Africa, and an early supporter of Alfred Wegener's theory of continental drift....
from South Africa and
Arthur HolmesArthur Holmes was a British geologist. As a child he lived in Low Fell, Gateshead and attended the Gateshead Higher Grade School ....
in
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, the hypothesis was generally met with skepticism. The one American edition of Wegener's work, published in 1925, was received so poorly that the
American Association of Petroleum GeologistsThe American Association of Petroleum Geologists is one of the world's largest professional geological societies with over 31,000 members as of 2007. The AAPG works to advance the science of geology , to promote technology, and to inspire high professional conduct...
organized a symposium specifically in opposition to the continental drift hypothesis. Also its opponents could, as did the
LeipzigLeipzig is, with a population of 515,459, the largest city in the federal state of Saxony, Germany.-Origins:Leipzig's name is derived from the Slavic word Lipsk, which means "settlement where the lime trees stand"....
er geologist
Franz KossmatFranz Kossmat was an Austrian-German geologist, for twenty years the director of the Geological Survey of Saxony under both the kingdom and the subsequent German Republic....
, argue that the oceanic crust was too firm for the continents to "simply plow through". In 1943
George Gaylord SimpsonGeorge Gaylord Simpson was an American paleontologist. Simpson was perhaps the most influential paleontologist of the twentieth century, and a major participant in the modern evolutionary synthesis, contributing Tempo and mode in evolution , The meaning of evolution and The major features of...
wrote a vehement attack on the theory (as well as the rival theory of sunken land bridges) and put forward his own permanentist views . Alexander du Toit wrote a rejoinder in the following year, but G.G.Simpson's influence was so powerful that even in countries previously sympathetic towards continental drift, like Australia, Wegener's hypothesis fell out of favour.
In the early 1950s, the new science of paleomagnetism pioneered at Cambridge University by S. K. Runcorn and at Imperial College by P.M.S. Blackett was soon throwing up data in favour of Wegener's theory. By early 1953 samples taken from India showed that the country had previously been in the Southern hemisphere as predicted by Wegener. By 1959, the theory had enough supporting data that minds were starting to change, particularly in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
where, in 1964, the Royal Society held a symposium on the subject.
Additionally, the 1960s saw several developments in geology, notably the discoveries of
seafloor spreadingSeafloor spreading occurs at mid-ocean ridges, where new oceanic crust is formed through volcanic activity and then gradually moves away from the ridge. Seafloor spreading helps explain continental drift in the theory of plate tectonics....
and Wadati-Benioff zones, led to the rapid resurrection of the continental drift hypothesis and its direct descendant, the theory of
plate tectonicsPlate tectonics is a theory which describes the large scale motions of Earth's lithosphere...
. Alfred Wegener was quickly recognized as a founding father of one of the major scientific revolutions of the 20th century.
Awards and honors
The
Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine ResearchThe Alfred Wegener Institute of Polar and Marine Research is a scientific organization located in Bremerhaven, Germany. The institute was founded in 1980 and is named after revolutionary meteorologist climatologist, and geologist Alfred Wegener...
in
BremerhavenBremerhaven is the seaport of the free city-state of Bremen, a federal state of Germany. It forms an enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the River Weser on its eastern bank, opposite the town of Nordenham...
, Germany, was established in 1980 on his centenary. It awards the Wegener Medal in his name. The crater
WegenerWegener may refer to:* Wegener * Wegener...
on the Moon and the crater Wegener on Mars, as well as the
asteroidthumb|260px|right|[[253 Mathilde]], a [[C-type asteroid]] measuring about across. Photograph taken in 1997 by the [[NEAR Shoemaker]] probe.Asteroids, sometimes called minor planets or planetoids, are small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun, especially in the inner Solar System; they are...
29227 Wegener29227 Wegener is a Main-belt Asteroid discovered on February 29, 1992 by F. Borngen at Tautenburg.- External links :*...
and the peninsula where he died in Greenland (Wegener Peninsula near Ummannaq, ), are named after him.
The European Geosciences Union sponsors an Alfred Wegener Medal & Honorary Membership "for scientists who have achieved exceptional international standing in atmospheric, hydrological or ocean sciences, defined in their widest senses, for their merit and their scientific achievements."
Today West Houston Charter School is discovering his discoveries to this day
Further reading
- (Translated from the fourth revised German edition by John Biram)- (Translated from the fourth German edition by John Biram with an introduction by B.C. King)- (Translated from the seventh German edition by Winifred M. Deans)- (Wegener's
Thermodynamics of the Atmosphere)
External links