The Origin of Continents and Oceans (Dover Earth Science)

What amazes me is exactly how much geology was known when this book was written. Wegener cited data and more data to support the thesis that continents must have shifted their locations. The detail is impressive. Like Einstein and relativity, he ran into a mass of experts locked into their views of the subject, but unlike Einstein, did not live to see the paradigm shift. Nor the mechanism of plate tectonics that explains the mystery. If you want to see the workings of a bright mind coping with a mass of data that just happens to open the door to reality, this book is for you. Children look at the map of the world and notice that the continents on either side of the Atlantic Ocean fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. Wegener's experience illustrates the principle that children tend to see reality while adults tend to see constructs. And also the principle that pioneers tend to take a lot of flak.

The way Wegener took data from many different disciplines to formulate the idea that continents move over time is a stunning achievement in the history of science.

When I studied geology in the mid-1960s, the Earth science was on the cusp of a huge leap forward in understanding global processes. Wegener foretold plate tectonics, but as happens too often among scientists, some geologists were not prepared for the paradigm shift. I wanted to see for myself what he proposed.

I teach high school earth science and "Wagner's theory of continental drift" is a big part of the plate tectonics unit every year. This book has helped me understand where Wagner was coming from and the scientists and processes that inspired his ideas. The way Wagner (and his translator) writes is much more understandable and lively than the cold text books the push on students these days. I might even have my students read portions of the book next year, instead of giving them a boring PowerPoint lecture.

Very informitive.

Wegener is honored as the first to come up with a reasonable explanation of continental drift.Although some of the material in this book is dated it is a great work. Wegener should be as honored as Darwin is. He was a pioneer and stuck his neck out at a time when geologists were creating all kinds of improbable land bridges to keep from considering that continents might move.

Much more technical and difficult than I thought but interesting content

Early theory of continental drift which led to the current theory of plate tectonics.The author,Alfred Wegener, died on an expedition to Greenland.

This poor man who was a meteorologist (not a geologist) had his theory rejected for over 30 years and yet was simply putting the evidence together - a must for every geeky geography teacher who respects this man and wants to see the original theory first hand. Wow.

Livro fonte da ideias de Wegener. Aborda os princípios e conceitos da deriva continental. Muito bom para entendermos o pensamento deste cientista.

A must read for all science and geography freaks!