Wegener’s Shocking Idea

Abstract Alfred Wegener was not the first scientist to imagine the possibility that continents could move, but he was the first one to compile extensive geological, geodetic, and paleontological evidence. His evidence had many gaps and ambiguities, partly because of incomplete world maps of geology and fossils at that time; but the great amount of supporting evidence he compiled could not be easily ignored by geologists. So they did not ignore it.

Instead, the earth science community convened conferences and attacked both Wegener’s theory and him personally. Only a handful of geologists in Europe and South Africa thought Wegener’s ideas deserved further consideration.