The Continental Drift Controversy

This book describes the expansion of the land-based paleomagnetic case for drifting continents and recounts the golden age of marine geoscience.

Resolution of the sixty year debate over continental drift, culminating in the triumph of plate tectonics, changed the very fabric of Earth science. This four-volume treatise on the continental drift controversy is the first complete history of the origin, debate and gradual acceptance of this revolutionary theory. Based on extensive interviews, archival papers and original works, Frankel weaves together the lives and work of the scientists involved, producing an accessible narrative for scientists and non-scientists alike. This first volume covers the period in the early 1900s when Wegener first pointed out that the Earth's major landmasses could be fitted together like a jigsaw and went on to propose that the continents had once been joined together in a single landmass, which he named Pangaea. It describes the reception of Wegener's theory as it splintered into sub-controversies and geoscientists became divided between the 'fixists' and 'mobilists'.

Why did American geologists reject the notion of continental drift, first posed in 1915? And why did British scientists view the theory as a pleasing confirmation? This text, based on archival resources, provides answers to these questions.

Describes the expansion of the land-based paleomagnetic case for drifting continents and recounts the golden age of marine geoscience.

The definitive account of the early debate over Wegener's theory of continental drift, based on extensive interviews and archival material.

In 1915 Alfred Wegener's seminal work describing the continental drift was first published in German. Wegener explained various phenomena of historical geology, geomorphy, paleontology, paleoclimatology, and similar areas in terms of continental drift. This edition includes new data to support his theories, helping to refute the opponents of his controversial views. 64 illustrations.

Resolution of the sixty year debate over continental drift, culminating in the triumph of plate tectonics, changed the very fabric of Earth Science. This four-volume treatise on the continental drift controversy is the first complete history of the origin, debate and gradual acceptance of this revolutionary theory. Based on extensive interviews, archival papers and original works, Frankel weaves together the lives and work of the scientists involved, producing an accessible narrative for scientists and non-scientists alike. This second volume provides the first extensive account of the growing paleomagnetic case for continental drift in the 1950s and the development of Apparent Polar Wander Paths that showed how the continents had changed their positions relative to one another - more or less as Wegener had proposed. Paleomagnetism offered the first physical measure that continental drift had occurred and helped determine the changing latitudes of the continents through geologic time. Other volumes in this set: Volume 1: Wegener and the Early Debate Volume 3: Introduction of Seafloor Spreading Volume 4: Evolution into Plate Tectonics 4 Volume Set