In retrospect, we see that his theory showed remarkable insight, and it was undoubtedly his lack of formal training in geology and paleontology that enabled him to look at the Earth in a somewhat less restricted way than the highly disciplined "academic experts". Although like the controversy over the age of the Earth, this particular feud may have lacked the true verbal venom and subtle wit of some the previous battles we have looked at it, is was, nevertheless, a long and hard battle for Wegener - and after his death, for his supporters - against the prevailing views of many of the world's leading authorities.
For some 5 decades, its few proponents were dismissed contemptuously by scientists on both sides of the Atlantic and particularly strongly by those in the U.S. When Wegener first suggested what we call today continental drift, the reaction was not only negative, it was so intense that many who were inclined to agree with him were genuinely frightened to come forward in case their own careers were put in jeopardy. However, it was resurrected in the 1960's as part of the theory of what's called plate tectonics, and today, we have little problem with Wegener's ideas in fact, they are the very foundation upon which all modern Earth science is based. At the time of Wegener's premature death in 1930 his idea had been rejected by most geologists and for several decades it sank into obscurity. The debate and differences between catastrophism and uniformitarianism were a common theme running through many of the scientific controversies. Although as we look back it is essentially consistent with uniformitarianism, it seemed to have strong overtones of catastrophism, which was very much out of fashion at the time. It was proposed by a man, Alfred Lothar Wegener, who had essentially no training in geology as you can imagine, a point not lost on his adversaries. It was a theory of how the continents, as we know them today, were formed, and it came at a time when Lord Kelvin's battles about the age of the Earth was just about at an end. This story has some very interesting features. ALFRED WEGENER vs JUST ABOUT EVERYBODY ELSE:
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