The Origin of Continents and Oceans [Jan Gillett's copy]

Wegener, A.

Published by Methuen & Co Ltd, London, 1924

About this Item

First British edition. Illustrated with a few text diagrams, octavo, pp xx, 212 + 8 page publisher's catalogue, a little age-toned and used internally, red cloth very faded, a little worn overall, the spine-head pulled. RARE. [From the library of the Kew botanist Jan Gillett, with his signature and address on the front endpaper.]. {Wegener was a German climatologist, geologist, geophysicist, meteorologist, and polar researcher. 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 controversial and widely rejected 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. In the early 1950s, the new science of paleomagnetism pioneered at the University of Cambridge by S. K. Runcorn and at Imperial College by P.M.S. Blackett was soon producing data in favour of Wegener's theory. By early 1953 samples taken from India showed that the country had previously been in the Southern hemisphere as predicted by Wegener. By 1959, the theory had enough supporting data that minds were starting to change, particularly in the United Kingdom where, in 1964, the Royal Society held a symposium on the subject. The 1960s saw several relevant developments in geology, notably the discoveries of seafloor spreading and Wadati-Benioff zones, and this led to the rapid resurrection of the continental drift hypothesis in the form of its direct descendant, the theory of plate tectonics. Maps of the geomorphology of the ocean floors created by Marie Tharp in cooperation with Bruce Heezen were an important contribution to the paradigm shift that was starting. Wegener was then recognized as the founding father of one of the major scientific revolutions of the 20th century. Because of this delay in acceptance of his theory, the book was never reprinted until the 1960's and 1970's.}.

Seller Inventory # 018214

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Origin of Continents and Oceans [Jan Gillett's copy]
• Publisher: Methuen & Co Ltd, London
• Publication Date: 1924
• Binding: Cloth
• Edition: First British edition.
• Condition: Fair
• Seller catalogs:
  • Geology
  • Evolution
  • Natural History