#Who was alfred wegener verification
#Who was alfred wegener professional

However, meteorology and expeditions to Greenland aren’t what Alfred Wegener is best known for. He participated in four expeditions to Greenland and was one of the first meteorologists to adopt the use of weather balloons. His primary interest was in the northern polar region and how air circulated in that region. Born in 1880 in Germany, he got his degree in astronomy but became a meteorologist, which was still a rather new field at the time. Once again, that is /brilliantĪlfred Wegener was a really interesting man. If you are interested in learning more about any STEM subject go to /brilliant Their courses explore the laws that shape our world, elevating math and science from something to be feared to a delightful experience of guided discovery. They enable great teachers to illuminate the soul of math, science, and engineering through bite-sized, interactive learning experiences. This episode is sponsored by īrilliant’s mission is to inspire and develop people to achieve their goals in STEM - one person, one question, and one small commitment to learning at a time. Learn more about Alfred Wegener and the theory of Continental Drift, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. The scientific community laughed at him and rejected his idea. He proposed that the continents may at one time have been joined and subsequently moved. North America seemed to fit into northwest Africa and Europe. In 1910, a German Earth scientist noticed something about the map of the world. But otherwise they are two completely different theories.Apple | Google | Spotify | Amazon | Player.FM | TuneInĬastbox | Stitcher | Podcast Republic | RSS | Patreon On that point Wegener’s hypothesis and the hypothesis of plate tectonics coincide. As far as the end result is concerned, the correctness of Wegener’s theory of continental drift can be affirmed today: parts of the earth crust are moving. Only after World War II did completely new data-especially from modern deepsea exploration and from research into the earth’s ancient magnetic field-lead to a more coherent synthesis, “plate tectonics”, which,, has dominated discussion of the continents and oceans, earthquakes and volcanoes, and the formation of the great mountain chains.Īlthough many details of this theory, too, are disputed, it provides a much more consistent and complete picture than Wegener was able to sketch. A number of geological and geophysical arguments in its favor turned out to be unsound, and during his lifetime Wegener was unable to win acceptance for his theory, either in Europe or America-not least because as an “outsider” he was not taken seriously by many geologists.

#Who was alfred wegener verification

In many respects, the verification of Wegener’s hypothesis of continental drift was as problematic as its formulation was revolutionary. After Wegener’s hypothesis, climatic changes in geologic time now also appeared in a new light: In this field Wegener’s collaborative work with his father-in-law, the climatologist Wladimir Köppen, would be particularly important. Seldom has a new set of ideas about the origin of the earth’s crust, mountain ranges, and oceans had such a revitalizing effect as did Wegener’s theory of continental drift. This hypothesis made it possible to solve many different geological and geophysical problems. This idea, which became known as “continental drift,”* was not completely new, but Wegener was the first to develop it in depth. In 1912 he published, for the first time, his revolutionary hypothesis that the continents are not fixed but rather have been slowly wandering during the course of earth history. His true and lasting importance, however, is found in an entirely different field.

Another feat of physical endurance-although perhaps more trivial-was the world record in ballooning set by Wegener and his brother Kurt, when they were in their twenties. However, from boyhood on his goal had always been to explore the Arctic, and he did, in fact, participate in four expeditions to Greenland, each of which demanded extraordinary amounts of physical endurance, “iron will, and energy.” Wegener’s explorations of Greenland also became well known to the general public through his entertaining accounts of his travels.

In Graz, Austria, he was professor of meteorology and geophysics.

#Who was alfred wegener professional

In his professional life he was primarily a meteorologist, and his textbook, Thermodynamik der Atmosphäre, which was written when he was thirty, went through several editions. He wrote his dissertation on a topic in astronomy. Wegener was a remarkably versatile and creative scientist. For everyone interested in the earth sciences, Alfred Wegener’s life is a fascinating story.