Essay - Alfred Lothar Wegener (1880-1930), German Meteorologist, Arctic Explorer and a...

Alfred Lothar Wegener (1880-1930), German meteorologist, Arctic explorer and a brilliant interdisciplinary scientist, is best known as for his theory of "continental displacement" (that became famous, later, as the theory of ***** drift). Since the technological means ***** proving the theory had not yet been developed and the idea w***** a radical departure from the scientific thinking of the time, Wegener's theory *****as widely rejected during his lifetime. After gradual accumulation of evidence in support ***** the idea, the ***** f*****ally gained acceptance in the early sixties. This paper gives a brief biography of Alfred Wegener, his theory of cont*****ental drift and other contributions to the world of science.

Early Life & Education

***** Wegener was born on November 1, 1880 in Berl*****. His fa*****r ***** a minister and ran an orphanage. Even as a young boy Wegener was interested in walking, skating and hiking ***** he put to use in several Arctic expediti*****s later in his life. Wegener studied in Berlin, Heidelberg and Innsbruck and earned his PhD in astronomy ***** the University of ***** in 1904. However, he was more ***** in geophysics ***** started to study t***** emerg*****g sciences of meteorology and clima*****logy. He spent most of ***** life studying these fields rather than astronomy. ("Alfred Wegener 1880-1930," 1998- A Science Odyssey Web site; Waggoner, 1996.) In 1906 he made his first expedition to Greenland to study polar air circulation. On his return, ***** joined the University ***** Marburg as a lecturer, but *****gain took time off in 1912-13 on another expedition to *****. Before going on his sec*****d Greenland expedition, ***** got married to the daughter of one of the leading ********** in Germany. He also joined ***** Army and fought in World War I before be*****g discharged in 1914 after being wounded.

***** Idea of the Theory of Continental Drift

***** at *****, in 1911, Wegener noticed the matching coastlines of South America ***** Africa on either side ***** the Atlantic and also came across a ***** paper that listed fossils of identical plants and animals found on opposite sides of the Atlantic. He was intrigued by the phenomenon and began ***** investigate further the similarity of organisms separated by vast oceans. The existing scientific *****ory at the time explained such similarity by the conjecture th***** "land bridges" (now sunken) had once connected far-flung continents. (Wagg*****r, 1996.)

Wegener was not convinced by the theory ***** "land bridges" and combined the 'remarkable fit' (like a jig-saw puzzle) of the African and South *****n coastlines with the geological and paleontological evidence to develop his theory ***** Continental drift. He first ***** forward the idea in 1912 that ***** ***** had at one ***** been jo*****ed together in one land mass before drifting apart.

Evidence for the *****

Wegener ***** not the first person to suggest the possibility and knew ***** in order ***** such a revolution*****ry theory a lot of back-up evidence was required. *****, therefore, set about the task of f*****ding the evidence with typical tenacity.