Alfred Wegener
Alfred Lothar Wegener (/ˈveɪɡənər/; German: [ˈʔalfʁeːt ˈveːɡənɐ]; 1 November 1880 – November 1930) was a German climatologist, geologist, geophysicist, meteorologist, and polar researcher.
Alfred Wegener | |
|---|---|
Wegener, c. 1924–1930 | |
| Born | Alfred Lothar Wegener 1 November 1880 |
| Died | November 1930 (aged 50) |
| Nationality | German |
| Citizenship | German |
| Alma mater | University of Berlin (PhD) |
| Known for | Continental drift theory |
| Relatives | Kurt Wegener (brother) Paul Wegener (cousin) Wladimir Köppen (father-in-law) Heinrich Harrer (son-in-law) Siegfried Uiberreither (son-in-law) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Climatology, geology, geophysics, meteorology |
| Thesis | The Alfonsine Tables for the Use of a Modern Computer (1905) |
| Doctoral advisor | Julius Bauschinger, Wilhelm Förster |
| Signature | |
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 of continental drift hypothesis by suggesting in 1912 that the continents are slowly drifting around the Earth (German: Kontinentalverschiebung).
His hypothesis was not accepted by mainstream geology until the 1950s, when numerous discoveries such as palaeomagnetism provided strong support for continental drift, and thereby a substantial basis for today's model of plate tectonics.
Wegener was involved in several expeditions to Greenland to study polar air circulation before the existence of the jet stream was accepted. Expedition participants made many meteorological observations and were the first to overwinter on the inland Greenland ice sheet and the first to bore ice cores on a moving Arctic glacier.