Henry Hess
Henry Hess
One reason the scientific community doubted him was because he wasn't able to come up with an explanation for how the continents were moving, & where the force to move them was coming from.
lol
Yes, and using what was known about the earth at that time Wegener's continental drift theory was so implausible that it had to be rejected. It took data secretly collected by the US Navy after WW2 to account for strange magnetic anomalies that interfered with precision navigation of warships and submarines to give the first hints of a plausible mechanism. But since this data was classified for a long time it was not available to the scientific community, long delaying acceptance of the theory. When the theory was finally accepted the name had been changed to plate tectonics, because it wasn't the continents drifting it was the plates shifting (both continental and oceanic).
Wegener was ignored for so long because no scientists believed him about his theory of continental drift. No scientists believed him because he couldn't explain how the continents had moved until the time of Harry Hess or J. Tuzo Wilson.
Henry Hess
because he couldn't explain what forces caused the continents to move... :D yup that's why
One reason the scientific community doubted him was because he wasn't able to come up with an explanation for how the continents were moving, & where the force to move them was coming from.
He could not explain why the continents drifted.
They speak at conferences and write articles.
They speak at conferences and write articles.
They speak at conferences and write articles.
lol
Yes, and using what was known about the earth at that time Wegener's continental drift theory was so implausible that it had to be rejected. It took data secretly collected by the US Navy after WW2 to account for strange magnetic anomalies that interfered with precision navigation of warships and submarines to give the first hints of a plausible mechanism. But since this data was classified for a long time it was not available to the scientific community, long delaying acceptance of the theory. When the theory was finally accepted the name had been changed to plate tectonics, because it wasn't the continents drifting it was the plates shifting (both continental and oceanic).
The scientific community, specifically those scientists involved with the life-sciences.
Wegener was ignored for so long because no scientists believed him about his theory of continental drift. No scientists believed him because he couldn't explain how the continents had moved until the time of Harry Hess or J. Tuzo Wilson.
The theory was dismissed by the scientific community because there was no mechanism to move continents through what was believed to be solid rock.Here is one of the reasons that the theory was hotly debated when it came out in 1912: Link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94AiYYgtIEw