Alfred wegener?

Question

what was the theory that he made?

Answer 1

The theory of continental drift.

Answer 2

Alfred Wegener suggested that the continents move around the surface of the earth - a theory known as "Continental Drift." There were some really big problems with his explanation and very little evidence to support it, so it was not accepted at first.

However, since his hypothesis was something that could be tested, pretty soon there were quite a few people interested in it and trying to check it out. It took a while to get the evidence that was needed for confirmation because most of the evidence was at the bottom of the ocean and in 1920 there was no way to look at the bottom of the ocean. However, during WW II we got sonar and were able to look at the shape of the ocean bottom. Quite soon after the evidence appeared, scientific opinion swung decisively behind the idea (now modified and called Tectonic Plates) that had developed from Wegener's thesis.

GLobal warming is exactly like Wegenr's idea - at first, no one believed it, but over a period of the last 30 years as more and more evidence has accumulated, all the doubters and skeptics in the scientific community have been convinced that Global warming is real and is caused by humans. Only a few paid spokesmen for the oil industry and radical neocon/fascists like Ann Coulter are left still trying to confuse the issue.

Answer 3

It is interesting to note that when Wegener gave his famous talk about continental drift in front of the British Geological Society around 1910 that the CONSENSUS of scientists present did not believe that what Wegener was proposing was possible. He was laughed off the stage for his theory, which was of course true although Wegener did not understand the mechanism involved.

But, over 99% of all scientists at that time believed that the continents were static in their positions. Contrast this with the statement today often cited by global warming devotees that a "consensus of 90% of scientists support man-caused global warming". The man-caused GW folks then state that the science is settled. See any similarities?

Answer 4

theory of continental drift

According to the theory of continental drift, the world was made up of a single continent through most of geologic time. That continent eventually separated and drifted apart, forming into the seven continents we have today. The hypothesis asserts that the continents consist of lighter rocks that rest on heavier crustal material—similar to the manner in which icebergs float on water. Wegener contended that the relative positions of the continents are not rigidly fixed but are slowly moving—at a rate of about one yard per century.