how did alfred wegener impact the world

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Why is Alfred Wegener important?

Alfred Lothar Wegener: Moving continents. Perhaps Alfred Wegener's greatest contribution to the scientific world was his ability to weave seemingly dissimilar, unrelated facts into a theory, which was remarkably visionary for the time.

What can we learn from Alfred Wegener?

Alfred Wegener is most famous for his theory of continental drift. He spend countless years and research on coming up the evidence that the continents do move. He wrote a book about it called The Continents and the Oceans, which revised over the years.

How did Alfred Wegener explain the movement of continents?

In the early 20th century, Wegener published a paper explaining his theory that the continental landmasses were “drifting” across the Earth, sometimes plowing through oceans and into each other. He called this movement continental drift.

What evidence supports the theory of continental drift?

The four pieces of evidence for the continental drift include continents fitting together like a puzzle, scattering ancient fossils, rocks, mountain ranges, and the old climatic zones' locations.

What are the evidence gathered by Alfred?

Alfred Wegener, in the first three decades of this century, and DuToit in the 1920s and 1930s gathered evidence that the continents had moved. They based their idea of continental drift on several lines of evidence: fit of the continents, paleoclimate indicators, truncated geologic features, and fossils.

Where was Alfred Wegener born?

Alfred Wegener was born in Berlin on November 1, 1880. He studied the natural sciences at the University of Berlin, receiving a doctorate in astronomy in 1904. He did not pursue a career in astronomy, however, but turned instead to meteorology, where the telegraph, Atlantic cable, and wireless were fostering rapid advances in storm tracking ...

What did Wegener do when he returned to Marburg?

When he returned to Marburg, Wegener resumed work on continental drift, marshaling all the scientific evidence he could find to support his theory.

What was the first thing that Wegener used to study the polar atmosphere?

During this expedition Wegener became the first to use kites and tethered balloons to study the polar atmosphere.

What was Wegener's most controversial book?

Using this pioneering interdisciplinary approach, Wegener wrote one of the most influential and controversial books in the history of science: The Origin of Continents and Oceans , published in 1915. Because of the First World War, Wegener's book went unnoticed outside Germany.

Who wrote the thermodynamics of the atmosphere?

In 1911, still only 30, Wegener collected his meteorology lectures into a book, The Thermodynamics of the Atmosphere, which soon became a standard text throughout Germany. After reading it, the distinguished Russian climatologist Alexander Woeikoff wrote that a new star had risen in meteorology.

Who was the first person to overwinter on the ice cap?

In 1912, the year of his continental-drift presentations, Wegener again answered the siren call of Greenland. His four-man expedition "escaped death only by a miracle" while climbing a suddenly calving glacier on the northeast coast, then became the first to overwinter on the ice cap.

Who was the first person to trace storm tracks over the polar region?

According to fellow meteorologist and Greenland explorer Dr. Johannes Georgi, Wegener was the first to trace storm tracks over the ice cap.

Who was Alfred Wegener?

Alfred Lothar Wegener ( / ˈveɪɡənər /; German: [ˈʔalfʁeːt ˈveːɡənɐ]; 1 November 1880 – November 1930) was a German polar researcher, geophysicist and meteorologist . During his lifetime he was primarily known for his achievements in meteorology and as a pioneer of polar research, but today he is most remembered as the originator ...

Why did Wegener not accept his ideas?

Part of the reason Wegener's ideas were not initially accepted was the misapprehension that he was suggesting the continents had fit along the current coastline. Charles Schuchert commented:

What was Wegener's theory of continental drift?

From 1912, Wegener publicly advocated the existence of " continental drift ", arguing that all the continents were once joined together in a single landmass and had since drifted apart. He supposed that the mechanisms causing the drift might be the centrifugal force of the Earth's rotation (" Polflucht ") or the astronomical precession. Wegener also speculated about sea-floor spreading and the role of the mid-ocean ridges, stating that "the Mid-Atlantic Ridge ... zone in which the floor of the Atlantic, as it keeps spreading, is continuously tearing open and making space for fresh, relatively fluid and hot sima [rising] from depth." However, he did not pursue these ideas in his later works.

Why did Wegener not defend his work?

Wegener was in the audience for this lecture, but made no attempt to defend his work, possibly because of an inadequate command of the English language.

How many Greenlanders returned to West Camp?

Twelve of the Greenlanders returned to West camp. On 19 October the remaining three members of the expedition reached Eismitte. There being only enough supplies for three at Eismitte, Wegener and Rasmus Villumsen took two dog sleds and made for West camp.

Why was the interest in Wegener's work so low?

Interest in this small publication was however low, also because of wartime chaos. By the end of the war Wegener had published almost 20 additional meteorological and geophysical papers in which he repeatedly embarked for new scientific frontiers. In 1917 he undertook a scientific investigation of the Treysa meteorite .

What was Alfred Wegener's motivation for creating the first continent?

His brother Kurt remarked that Alfred Wegener's motivation was to “reestablish the connection between geophysics on the one hand and geography and geology on the other, which had become completely ruptured because of the specialized development of these branches of science.”

Where did Wegener work?

A first job and a world record. In 1905, Wegener started work as a scientist at a meteorological station near the small German town of Beeskow. There, working with his older brother Kurt, he carried out pioneering work using weather balloons to study air movements.

How old was Alfred Wegener when he died?

On an unknown day in mid-November 1930, Alfred Wegener died on his fourth expedition to Greenland. He was 50 years old.

What continents did Wegener see fit together?

Looking at a world map in 1910, Wegener noticed how the coastlines of eastern South America and western Africa seemed to fit together, rather like jigsaw pieces. The South American and African continents seem to fit together.

What did Wegener discover about fossils?

Publishing fossil and geological evidence. After further research, in 1911 Wegener learned that fossils of several species were present in both Brazil and western Africa. This evidence suggested to him that South America and Africa were in physical contact when the fossilized animals and plants were alive.

How did Wegener make his mark?

During the expedition, Wegener made his mark by building Greenland’s first meteorological station and taking a large number of atmospheric readings using kites and balloons. The expedition’s work in uncharted territory was dangerous – three expedition members died of starvation/exposure! University Lecturer.

How many children did Alfred Wegener have?

The Wegener family of two adults and five children – Alfred was the youngest – was well-off financially. Alfred was an intelligent boy. He received a conventional education at grammar school in Berlin, where his academic ability marked him for a university education. He began university in Berlin in 1899, age 18, taking a variety of science classes.

What was the purpose of the Danmark expedition?

The expedition’s principle aim was to map Greenland’s unexplored northeast coast.

What was Wegener's first work?

In 1915, Wegener was able to publish the first version of his most prized work, Die Entstehung der Kontinente und Ozeane (The Origin of Continents and Oceans) as an extension to his previous lectures and publications from 1912.

Where did Wegener teach?

Arriving home from his first expedition, he landed a teaching position at the University of Marburg in Germany thanks to his Artic research. There he lectured on various subjects including meteorology, applied astronomy, cosmic physics, and “astronomic-geographic position-fitting for explorers.” Students and colleagues of Wegener admired him for his clarity and ability to explain complex topics in simple terms without sacrificing detail. Hans Benndorf, a physics professor at Marburg, further applauded Wegener’s enthusiasm and clarity as he wrote,” With what ease he found his way through the most complicated work of the theoreticians, with what feeling for the important point! He would often, after a long pause for reflection, say ‘I believe such and such’ and most times he was right, as we would establish several days later after rigorous analysis.” In 1910 while still teaching at the University of Marburg , Wegener began to take interest in the history of the Earth’s continents and their placement, after he noticed the jigsaw puzzle like features of their respective continental shelves. More specifically he noticed how the eastern coast of South America and the northwestern coast of Africa seemed like a perfect fit, thereby coming to the conclusion that they must have been connected at one point. However, Alfred Wegener did not act upon this conclusion until coming across several scientific documents. Those documents he found, while browsing the University of Marburg’s library, listed information on fossils of identical plants and animals found on opposite sides of the Atlantic. Previously, explanations for identical fossils being found on separate continents were based upon the existence of a type of land bridge that has now been sunken. Nonetheless, Wegener knew his idea of the two land masses being connected was a much more viable explanation. In 1912, Wegener decided to present his idea of continental displacement, later known as continental drift, in a lecture at the Senckenberg-Museum and three articles in the Petermanns Geographischen Mitteilungen journal.

Why did Alfred Wegener go on the first Greenland expedition?

From 1906 to 1908, Wegener decided to take the first of four Greenland Expeditions in order to study polar weather. Led by Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen, the expedition crew’s mission was to explore the last unknown portion of the northeastern coast of Greenland. Alfred Wegener was thrilled by this opportunity as he always dreamed of adventuring into an Artic climate because of the scientific and physical challenges. While on the expedition, Wegener constructed the first meteorological station in Greenland. Moreover, he became the first scientist to use kites and tethered weather balloons to study the polar atmosphere.

What did Alfred Wegener use hot air balloons for?

On one of the hot air balloon trips, Alfred and Kurt managed to break the world record in 1906 for an uninterrupted flight—they remained afloat for around 52 hours. During his eventual four multiple Greenland expeditions, Alfred Wegener would use the weather balloons extensively to track various air masses and temperatures.

What was Wegener's purpose in the expedition?

The expedition’s purpose was reach the crossing of the inland ice of Greenland from east to west—an aim they had failed to reach in the first Greenland expedition.

Where did Alfred Wegener go to school?

Born on November 1st, 1880 in Berlin, Germany, Alfred Wegener was the youngest of five children. His father, Richard Wegener, was a theologian who taught classical languages at Berlinisches Gymnasium zum Grauen Kloster—a prestigious school German school. Wegener first attended school at Köllnische Gymnasium in Berlin where he began to take interest in physical and Earth science and proceeded to graduate at the top of his class. After graduating he attended the University of Berlin as well as a university in Innsbruck, Austria. At the University of Berlin, in addition to studying physical and Earth science, he worked toward earning a Ph.D in astronomy. While working on his doctorate, he began to gain interest in physics, meteorology and paleoclimatology. Upon graduating the University of Berlin in 1905 with a Ph.D in astronomy, he decided to work at the Aeronautischen Observatorium Lindenberg with his older brother, Kurt, who shared similar interests in meteorology and polar climatology.

Who was Alfred Wegener married to?

Upon returning from the hazardous second Greenland expedition, Wegener married Else Köppen, the daughter of fellow meteorologist Wladimir Köppen, and resumed his teaching career at the University of Marburg.

Overview

Biography

Continental drift theory

Modern developments

Awards and honors

Selected works

See also

External links