The Continental Drift Controversy

Resolution of the sixty-year debate over continental drift, culminating in the triumph of plate tectonics, changed the very fabric of Earth science. This four-volume treatise on the continental drift controversy is the first complete history of the origin, debate and gradual acceptance of this revolutionary theory. Based on extensive interviews, archival papers and original works, Frankel weaves together the lives and work of the scientists involved, producing an accessible narrative for scientists and non-scientists alike. Volume 1 covers the early 1900s when Wegener first proposed that the continents had once been a single landmass. Volume 2 describes the growing paleomagnetic case for continental drift in the 1950s and development of Apparent Polar Wander Paths. Volume 3 describes the expansion of the land-based paleomagnetic case for drifting continents, and Volume 4 recounts the discovery of geomagnetic reversals leading to the rapid acceptance of seafloor spreading and the birth of plate tectonics.