page_title: Alfred Wegener
hierarchical_section_title: Alfred Wegener
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Belege für die Existenz des Südkontinents Gondwana und der Plattentektonik in der Erdgeschichte anhand von Fossilien.
context_page_description: Alfred Lothar Wegener was a German scientist and meteorologist. He is most notable for his theory of continental drift, which he proposed in December 1912. This was the idea that the continents were slowly drifting around the Earth. He also had ideas about why the continents drift, which other scientists thought were impossible. His hypothesis was not accepted until the 1950s. Then several discoveries gave evidence of continental drift, and of the actual causes.
  Wegener was born in Berlin and in 1904 he earned his PhD in Astronomy at the University of Berlin. As a reserve officer of the German Army he was called up in 1914 to fight in World War I. He was severely wounded in Belgium and transferred to the army weather service. After the war he mainly did weather work.
context_section_description: Alfred Lothar Wegener (1 November 1880 – 13 November 1930) was a German scientist and meteorologist. He is most notable for his theory of continental drift, which he proposed in December 1912. This was the idea that the continents were slowly drifting around the Earth. He also had ideas about why the continents drift, which other scientists thought were impossible. His hypothesis was not accepted until the 1950s. Then several discoveries gave evidence of continental drift, and of the actual causes.
  Wegener was born in Berlin and in 1904 he earned his PhD in Astronomy at the University of Berlin. As a reserve officer of the German Army he was called up in 1914 to fight in World War I. He was severely wounded in Belgium and transferred to the army weather service. After the war he mainly did weather work.
caption: Fossil records suggesting that continents now separated were once together: see Pangaea
exif: {}