He is best known for his theory of continental drift, confirmed in the 1960's with the NSF-supported ocean-margin drilling program. Alfred Wegener, (1880-1930), is perhaps the paradigm example of such a scientist for the 20th century. In the history of science, there occurs on occasion a case of a prescient scientist who examines all the evidence and presents a theory which is rejected in his or her own life-time, only thave this theory confirmed at some later point. Primary Place of Performance Congressional District: Mott Greene (Principal Investigator) Sponsored Research Office:.

Overmann DBI Div Of Biological Infrastructure BIO Direct For Biological Sciences Wegener’s ideas are now standard concepts in geology, taught to everyone who studies the subject.Alfred Wegener and the Theory of Continental Drift NSF Org:

It was in the 1960s, that the world of geological research finally accepted the theory of plate tectonics and the concept of Pangaea presented by Alfred Wegener as correct. That mausoleum is now buried under tons of snow and ice.Īlthough Alfred Wegener is no longer with us, the world today accepts that his continental drift theory is correct. He decided to build a pyramid-shaped mausoleum in the ice for Wegener’s body to rest in. On 12 th May 1931, Kurt Wegener found his brothers icy grave. However, Villumsen too could not complete the journey and his body was never found. The colleague Wegener was traveling with, Villumsen, buried Wegener’s body in the snow and marked the grave. Although he resupplied the camp successfully, on his way back with a colleague on dog sleds, Alfred Wegener suffered a massive heart attack and died at the age of 50, doing what he loved doing best. The temperatures had fallen well below 60 ☌ (-76 ☏). In 1930, Wegener was on his fourth research trip in Greenland and was trying to resupply a far-flung camp in extremely disruptive weather. Wegener published the final edition of The Origin of Continents and Oceans in 1929. Wegener was a brilliant teacher and extremely popular amongst his students for explaining complex concepts with relative ease. To his credit, Wegener also has the distinction of publishing the world’s first textbook in meteorology ‘Thermodynamics of the Atmosphere’. Later on, the two adventurous brothers traveled as far as the Antarctic and Greenland to study the atmosphere and air current. Later on, he joined hands with his brother Kurt Wegener to create history by charting the world’s longest hot air balloon flight to study upper atmospheric effects. In spite of the chaos created by this theory, Wegener was not disappointed by his critiques and went ahead to publish his book ‘The Origin of Continents and Oceans’. Their coastlines were like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle and seemed to fit together. This idea had occurred to Wegener while observing the maps of the coastlines of eastern South America and western Africa. This idea caused quite a stir among the geologists of his time since it contradicted theories which dated back hundreds of years. According to him, all the different continents which seem like pieces of land randomly adrift in vast masses of water actually broke away pieces of a common continent. but by then Wegener had lost interest in astronomy and opted to concentrate on geophysics and meteorology.Īlfred Wegener was considered the pioneer of one of the most profound geological breakthroughs of the 20 th century the Continental Drift, thanks to his tireless polar research. In 1905, the ‘Friedrich Wilhelms University’ awarded him his Ph.D. His doctorate degree was earned under the tutelage of the famous astronomer Julius Bauschinger. He was a brilliant student as far as astronomy was concerned and during his time in Austria, interned at the astronomical laboratory of Urania.

Later on, he moved to Austria and pursued his education in physics, meteorology, and astronomy. Wegener received his early education form the ‘Köllnisches Gymnasium’, and in 1899 he joined the University of Berlin for higher education. Wegener’s father was a teacher of classical languages at the prestigious institute, ‘Evangelisches Gymnasium zum Grauen Kloster’, in Germany. His father, Richard was a churchman and mother, Anna Wegener was a homemaker. Alfred Wegener was born on 1 st November 1880, into a rather affluent family in Berlin, Germany.

Who was alfred wegener