1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:13,040 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radios How Stuff Works. Hello, and welcome 3 00:00:13,080 --> 00:00:16,599 Speaker 1: to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Frying. 4 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:20,520 Speaker 1: I really love historical disputes, especially when it's some kind 5 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:24,440 Speaker 1: of scientific or technical discovery or advancement or some kind 6 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:28,440 Speaker 1: of medical something that people were arguing over. Like when 7 00:00:28,440 --> 00:00:30,840 Speaker 1: I've been trying to figure out what to talk about 8 00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:33,040 Speaker 1: next and nothing on my list is really grabbing me 9 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:37,040 Speaker 1: at the moment, sometimes I'll be googling like scientific disputes 10 00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:42,640 Speaker 1: in history. This is one that I've been hanging onto 11 00:00:42,760 --> 00:00:46,440 Speaker 1: for a while, and it's Alfred Wegner and the dispute 12 00:00:46,560 --> 00:00:51,360 Speaker 1: over his theory of continental drift. And I really expected 13 00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:54,520 Speaker 1: this episode to sound a lot like our previous one 14 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:59,680 Speaker 1: on Ignace semmelvice and handwashing, except geology, because that's how 15 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:01,880 Speaker 1: this or he gets told a lot of the time, 16 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:05,240 Speaker 1: especially to a general audience. It kind of gets summed 17 00:01:05,319 --> 00:01:09,000 Speaker 1: up as Alfred Veganer introduced his theory of continental drift 18 00:01:09,319 --> 00:01:12,160 Speaker 1: and was basically laughed out of the academy, and then 19 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:15,800 Speaker 1: after his tragic and untimely death, he was proved to 20 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:19,120 Speaker 1: be more or less right, and for a discovery that 21 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:21,560 Speaker 1: was as important to the field of geology as the 22 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:26,559 Speaker 1: discovery of DNA is to biology. But that is really 23 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:30,640 Speaker 1: not how this story goes at all. Alfred Wegner had 24 00:01:30,680 --> 00:01:34,000 Speaker 1: a huge career outside of his ideas around what we 25 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:38,960 Speaker 1: understand today as plate tectonics. He did important and respected 26 00:01:38,959 --> 00:01:41,080 Speaker 1: work that touched on a lot of different disciplines, and 27 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:44,360 Speaker 1: while there were definitely people who were very critical and 28 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:48,040 Speaker 1: even hostile when it came to what he called continental drift, 29 00:01:48,280 --> 00:01:50,400 Speaker 1: he did have his supporters, or at least people who 30 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:54,280 Speaker 1: were like willing to entertain the idea that he could 31 00:01:54,280 --> 00:02:00,120 Speaker 1: potentially be right. Alfred Veganer was born Alfred loth Are 32 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:04,040 Speaker 1: Veganer on November one, eighteen eighty in Berlin, Germany. His 33 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:07,200 Speaker 1: parents were Richard and Anna Vegner, and they had five children, 34 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:10,880 Speaker 1: three of whom survived infancy. Alfred was the youngest. His 35 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:14,560 Speaker 1: older brother and sister who survived were named Kurt and Tony. 36 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:18,359 Speaker 1: The men in the Veganer family typically went into the clergy, 37 00:02:18,639 --> 00:02:21,360 Speaker 1: and that was also true for Alfred's father. He was 38 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:24,960 Speaker 1: a theologian and a classicist, and a pastor and an 39 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:28,600 Speaker 1: orphanage director. He also taught at the local gymnasium, but 40 00:02:28,639 --> 00:02:31,200 Speaker 1: it was against the rules for Kurt and Alfred to 41 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:34,160 Speaker 1: attend the same school where he was working because he 42 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:37,200 Speaker 1: was their father, so they attended a different school and 43 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:40,240 Speaker 1: both wound up pursuing an education in science rather than 44 00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:43,959 Speaker 1: following that family tradition into the church. Kurt studied you 45 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:48,079 Speaker 1: physics and Alfred studied at universities in Heidelberg, Innsbruck and 46 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:52,360 Speaker 1: Berlin before getting a doctorate in astronomy in nineteen o five. 47 00:02:52,919 --> 00:02:56,960 Speaker 1: Even before finishing that doctorate, Veganer's interests went outside of 48 00:02:57,000 --> 00:02:59,720 Speaker 1: what you might think of when we say astronomy. He 49 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:03,680 Speaker 1: had studied Max Plank's work on thermochemistry and thermodynamics, and 50 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:06,160 Speaker 1: some of the people he studied under for his doctorate. 51 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:09,160 Speaker 1: We're using planetary astronomy as a way to study the 52 00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:13,160 Speaker 1: Earth rather than focusing on other planetary objects. He was 53 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:17,560 Speaker 1: also interested in weather and meteorology, and after finishing his degree, 54 00:03:17,639 --> 00:03:21,480 Speaker 1: he started working at the German Aeronautical Observatory in Lindenburg. 55 00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:24,840 Speaker 1: His brother worked there as well, and they used kites 56 00:03:24,919 --> 00:03:28,800 Speaker 1: and balloons to study the Earth's atmosphere and atmospheric phenomena. 57 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:32,600 Speaker 1: At one point during this work, the Veganer brothers spent 58 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:36,640 Speaker 1: fifty two hours aloft in a balloon, which set a 59 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:40,360 Speaker 1: world record. Alfred Veganer was also part of the team 60 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:43,280 Speaker 1: that confirmed the existence of the stratosphere. Wasn't a team 61 00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:46,080 Speaker 1: he was running, but he was involved in it. Veganair 62 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:49,040 Speaker 1: had been interested in Greenland since he was young. In 63 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:51,280 Speaker 1: in nineteen o six, he got the opportunity to go 64 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:55,040 Speaker 1: there as part of the Danish Denmark expedition, which intended 65 00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:59,800 Speaker 1: to map Greenland's northeast coast. Veganer was the expeditions physicist 66 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:03,080 Speaker 1: and meteorologist, and his research involved more work with kites 67 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:06,800 Speaker 1: and balloons to collect atmospheric data. He also got a 68 00:04:06,840 --> 00:04:11,080 Speaker 1: lot of practical experience in polar exploration. This expedition made 69 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:15,360 Speaker 1: its way through extremely inhospitable territory, so Veganer learned things 70 00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:18,360 Speaker 1: like Arctic survival skills and how to handle a team 71 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:21,800 Speaker 1: of sled dogs. On July tenth of nineteen o seven, 72 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:24,719 Speaker 1: while they were on Cape Bismarck, Veganer and the team 73 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:28,200 Speaker 1: observed several water spouts. They took a lot of pictures 74 00:04:28,279 --> 00:04:31,599 Speaker 1: and documented what they saw, and this experience may have 75 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:35,599 Speaker 1: inspired Veganer's interest in tornadoes and water spouts, which will 76 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:39,080 Speaker 1: come up again later in his career. Veganer kept journals 77 00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:43,039 Speaker 1: during this expedition, documenting his experiments and their results, as 78 00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:45,640 Speaker 1: well as the ordinary work that was associated with it, 79 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:49,000 Speaker 1: like setting up the equipment and keeping it maintained and repaired, 80 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:51,760 Speaker 1: and he also wrote about his own challenges as a 81 00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:55,120 Speaker 1: member of the team. He had no experience in polar 82 00:04:55,200 --> 00:04:58,839 Speaker 1: environments before this, and his knowledge of Danish was limited. 83 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:02,159 Speaker 1: Unlike any of the other scientists involved, he was also 84 00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:05,080 Speaker 1: very early in his career and he hadn't really established 85 00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:09,320 Speaker 1: a name for himself yet. This expedition achieved its objectives 86 00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:11,919 Speaker 1: of mapping the northeast coast of Greenland, but it was 87 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:16,680 Speaker 1: also tragic. Several of its primary members, including leader Ludwig 88 00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:20,880 Speaker 1: Milius Ericsson, died after being stranded when the sea ice 89 00:05:20,920 --> 00:05:24,679 Speaker 1: broke up around them. Even so, before it was even over, 90 00:05:24,880 --> 00:05:27,760 Speaker 1: Vegner was talking about where he might go in the future, 91 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:32,080 Speaker 1: even considering an expedition to Antarctica as a future project 92 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:35,880 Speaker 1: for himself. In nineteen o eight, after he returned from Greenland, 93 00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:38,640 Speaker 1: Vegner moved to Marburg, where he started working at the 94 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:42,560 Speaker 1: Physical Institute in Marburg in nineteen o nine. He also 95 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:46,120 Speaker 1: lectured on meteorology and astronomy at the university there, and 96 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:50,920 Speaker 1: Vegner became particularly interested in atmospheric discontinuities, which are sudden, 97 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:54,680 Speaker 1: sharp changes in temperature or pressure. For example, there are 98 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:58,760 Speaker 1: discontinuity services around the boundaries of weather fronts and at 99 00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:03,120 Speaker 1: the borders of atmosphere layers. Veganer wrote prolifically over the 100 00:06:03,120 --> 00:06:07,359 Speaker 1: next three years, publishing more than forty scientific papers and 101 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:10,200 Speaker 1: then editing the ones on the subject into a book 102 00:06:10,279 --> 00:06:14,839 Speaker 1: called Thermodynamics of the Atmosphere. This was a widely respected 103 00:06:14,839 --> 00:06:18,919 Speaker 1: and referenced text on atmospheric thermodynamics for years, until it 104 00:06:18,960 --> 00:06:22,160 Speaker 1: was ultimately replaced by a later book on the subject 105 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:26,160 Speaker 1: of that Veganer also wrote in one of Veganer's colleagues 106 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:29,120 Speaker 1: brought an atlas into their office that was Richard Andrew's 107 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:32,400 Speaker 1: Algaminy hand Atlas. This was one of the first atlas 108 00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:35,160 Speaker 1: is in Germany that included both the coastlines of South 109 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:39,520 Speaker 1: America and Africa and the bathymmetry data or information about 110 00:06:39,560 --> 00:06:42,360 Speaker 1: the ocean's depths that had been gathered by the expedition 111 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:45,919 Speaker 1: aboard the HMS Challenger in the late nineteenth century. So 112 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:50,279 Speaker 1: Veganer noticed something in this combination of data that intrigued him. 113 00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:53,480 Speaker 1: He noticed that the eastern coast of South America looked 114 00:06:53,480 --> 00:06:57,040 Speaker 1: like it would fit exactly against the western coast of Africa. 115 00:06:57,120 --> 00:06:59,880 Speaker 1: And this wasn't just at the coastline at sea level, 116 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:02,560 Speaker 1: was also part of the underwater topography off of the 117 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:05,799 Speaker 1: Visible coast. He wrote a letter to Osa Coppen, daughter 118 00:07:05,839 --> 00:07:10,320 Speaker 1: of climatologist Vladimir Coppen. Vladimir Coppen had advised Veganer in 119 00:07:10,360 --> 00:07:13,760 Speaker 1: advance of the Donmark expedition, and Alfred and Os had 120 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:17,800 Speaker 1: started corresponding. Veganer wrote, quote, doesn't the east coast of 121 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:21,280 Speaker 1: South America fit exactly against the west coast of Africa 122 00:07:21,760 --> 00:07:24,480 Speaker 1: as if they had once been joined? This is an 123 00:07:24,480 --> 00:07:28,119 Speaker 1: idea I'll have to pursue. He didn't pursue it right away, though, 124 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:30,520 Speaker 1: it seems to have kind of slipped his mind until 125 00:07:30,560 --> 00:07:33,600 Speaker 1: about a year later, when he read a newly published 126 00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:37,720 Speaker 1: paper on paleo geography that documented fossils that had been 127 00:07:37,760 --> 00:07:41,760 Speaker 1: found on both sides of the Atlantic. That combined with 128 00:07:41,880 --> 00:07:44,720 Speaker 1: Veganer's earlier study of that atlas to put him on 129 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:48,080 Speaker 1: the path of formulating a theory of continental drift, and 130 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:58,240 Speaker 1: we will get to that after a sponsor break. Alfred 131 00:07:58,320 --> 00:08:01,520 Speaker 1: Veganer was not at all the first person to notice 132 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:04,680 Speaker 1: that the eastern coast of South America and the western 133 00:08:04,760 --> 00:08:07,160 Speaker 1: coast of Africa looked like they could fit together like 134 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:10,600 Speaker 1: puzzle pieces. I mean, this is an observation that children 135 00:08:10,720 --> 00:08:14,240 Speaker 1: make the first time they experience a globe or an 136 00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:17,080 Speaker 1: atlas that shows all of that. And people had been 137 00:08:17,120 --> 00:08:20,280 Speaker 1: spotting that similarity starting as soon as there were maps 138 00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:24,000 Speaker 1: showing both of those coasts. In fifteen nineties six, Dutch 139 00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:27,600 Speaker 1: map maker Abraham or Tellius wrote that the America's looked 140 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:30,200 Speaker 1: like they had been quote torn away from Europe and 141 00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:34,040 Speaker 1: Africa by earthquakes and floods. Francis Bacon commented on it 142 00:08:34,120 --> 00:08:38,000 Speaker 1: in his Novamorganum, or True Suggestions for the Interpretation of 143 00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:42,480 Speaker 1: Nature in sixteen twenty. In a passage on similarities found 144 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:45,839 Speaker 1: in the natural world, he wrote, quote similar instances are 145 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:48,320 Speaker 1: not to be neglected in the greater portions of the 146 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:52,600 Speaker 1: world's confirmation, such as Africa and the Peruvian continent, which 147 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:55,800 Speaker 1: reaches to the Straits of Magellan, both of which possess 148 00:08:55,840 --> 00:08:59,559 Speaker 1: a similar isthmus and similar capes, a circumstance not to 149 00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:03,080 Speaker 1: be a aributed to mere accident. By the nineteenth century, 150 00:09:03,200 --> 00:09:07,160 Speaker 1: naturalists had also started to document animals, plants, and physical 151 00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:11,080 Speaker 1: features that seemed to exist on both sides of oceans 152 00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:15,280 Speaker 1: in a way that seemed impossible or at least really improvable, 153 00:09:15,320 --> 00:09:18,600 Speaker 1: given that the ocean was there to separate them. There 154 00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:21,320 Speaker 1: were rock formations on one side of the ocean that 155 00:09:21,360 --> 00:09:24,840 Speaker 1: seemed to pick up again on the other side. Mesosaurus 156 00:09:24,920 --> 00:09:28,480 Speaker 1: fossils were found in both Brazil and South Africa, and 157 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:33,040 Speaker 1: there are freshwater trilobite fossils from the genus Paradoxides that 158 00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:37,040 Speaker 1: were found in both North America and Europe. Naturalists found 159 00:09:37,200 --> 00:09:41,280 Speaker 1: living animals too, like lemurs which live in Southeast Africa, 160 00:09:41,679 --> 00:09:45,640 Speaker 1: the island of Madagascar, and Southeast Asia, even though there's 161 00:09:45,840 --> 00:09:48,920 Speaker 1: a lot of water separating all of those. There were 162 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:51,640 Speaker 1: also coal beds on both sides of the Atlantic and 163 00:09:51,720 --> 00:09:54,320 Speaker 1: seemed to be a part of the same system, and 164 00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:57,520 Speaker 1: physical evidence of glaciers that had once existed in parts 165 00:09:57,559 --> 00:10:01,080 Speaker 1: of the world now have tropical climates, and fossils of 166 00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:04,320 Speaker 1: tropical plants in areas that are now polar. The list 167 00:10:04,640 --> 00:10:07,360 Speaker 1: went on and on and on. So people started trying 168 00:10:07,400 --> 00:10:10,520 Speaker 1: to come up with all kinds of possible explanations for 169 00:10:10,559 --> 00:10:13,000 Speaker 1: how all of this stuff came to be. So for 170 00:10:13,080 --> 00:10:17,520 Speaker 1: the animal fossils and the living animals, maybe they swam 171 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:20,600 Speaker 1: really was one, but kind of briefly that was easy 172 00:10:20,640 --> 00:10:23,920 Speaker 1: to discount. It seemed incredibly unlikely that the animals in 173 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:26,440 Speaker 1: question could have swam that far, or maybe I don't know, 174 00:10:26,559 --> 00:10:29,520 Speaker 1: clung to a floating log all the way across the ocean. 175 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:33,760 Speaker 1: The maybe they swam explanation also didn't account for things 176 00:10:33,800 --> 00:10:37,319 Speaker 1: like rock formations and glaciers that seemed to have existed 177 00:10:37,360 --> 00:10:40,840 Speaker 1: in what seemed like the wrong place. Another popular idea 178 00:10:40,960 --> 00:10:43,280 Speaker 1: was that at one time there had been land bridges 179 00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:46,400 Speaker 1: connecting the continents, but that those had ultimately sunk into 180 00:10:46,440 --> 00:10:50,240 Speaker 1: the ocean. This tied into another prevalent idea that the 181 00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:53,080 Speaker 1: Earth had once been molten and was contracting as it 182 00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:56,240 Speaker 1: cooled and solidified. It was a little like the surface 183 00:10:56,280 --> 00:10:58,920 Speaker 1: of a plum as it drives into a prune, which 184 00:10:58,960 --> 00:11:02,280 Speaker 1: could explain the exits instance of both oceans and mountains. 185 00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:05,960 Speaker 1: That land bridge idea still had some problems, though it 186 00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:09,439 Speaker 1: didn't explain the rock formations that seemed to stop at 187 00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:11,520 Speaker 1: one coast and then pick up again on the other 188 00:11:11,559 --> 00:11:14,839 Speaker 1: side of the ocean, unless maybe those formations had been 189 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:17,400 Speaker 1: part of these land bridges that were now under water. 190 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:20,440 Speaker 1: But then there also wasn't a clear answer to what 191 00:11:20,559 --> 00:11:23,480 Speaker 1: could have caused the land bridges to sink, if they 192 00:11:23,480 --> 00:11:27,880 Speaker 1: had ever existed. In eighteen fifty eight, Antonio Snyder Pellegrini 193 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:31,160 Speaker 1: argued that maybe Africa and South America had been one 194 00:11:31,240 --> 00:11:34,600 Speaker 1: continent at some point in the past. He suggested that 195 00:11:34,600 --> 00:11:37,000 Speaker 1: the continents had been forced apart in the flood that 196 00:11:37,080 --> 00:11:40,360 Speaker 1: is described in the Biblical Book of Genesis. Then a 197 00:11:40,480 --> 00:11:44,720 Speaker 1: few decades later, when radioactivity was discovered in eighteen ninety six, 198 00:11:44,800 --> 00:11:48,560 Speaker 1: that raised more questions about this general idea that the 199 00:11:48,600 --> 00:11:51,880 Speaker 1: Earth was molten and was just contracting as it cooled. 200 00:11:52,559 --> 00:11:56,160 Speaker 1: How could that be happening if there were radioactive materials 201 00:11:56,200 --> 00:11:58,960 Speaker 1: within the Earth that we're giving off heat. On December 202 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:03,880 Speaker 1: know eight, American geologist Frank B. Taylor gave a presentation 203 00:12:03,960 --> 00:12:07,559 Speaker 1: to the Geological Society of America in which he suggested 204 00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:10,040 Speaker 1: that the continents were moving and had been pulled apart 205 00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:13,320 Speaker 1: by lunar gravity. He thought that the collisions of the 206 00:12:13,360 --> 00:12:16,439 Speaker 1: continents had pushed mountains into being, and that the continents 207 00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:20,000 Speaker 1: movement had also left deep tears in the oceans. He 208 00:12:20,080 --> 00:12:23,439 Speaker 1: published a paper in nineteen ten, and other papers followed. 209 00:12:23,880 --> 00:12:28,120 Speaker 1: It is definitely possible that Veganer read Taylor's nineteen ten 210 00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:30,800 Speaker 1: paper or one of the ones that followed, and for 211 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:33,760 Speaker 1: a while the theory of continental drift was actually called 212 00:12:33,800 --> 00:12:37,840 Speaker 1: the Taylor Veganer hypothesis. In nineteen thirty two, though Taylor 213 00:12:37,880 --> 00:12:39,840 Speaker 1: said that his name should be dropped off from the 214 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:43,479 Speaker 1: descriptor because other than the basic idea that the continents 215 00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:47,959 Speaker 1: were moving, his ideas were really different from Veganers. Here's 216 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:51,000 Speaker 1: what Veganer thought was going on. He thought that the 217 00:12:51,040 --> 00:12:54,559 Speaker 1: planet was made from concentric layers of material, which were 218 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:58,040 Speaker 1: denser the further down you go, and the outermost layer, 219 00:12:58,120 --> 00:13:01,160 Speaker 1: with the continents on it was not contigue. Us oceans 220 00:13:01,200 --> 00:13:04,320 Speaker 1: filled in any gaps. The continent layer was made of 221 00:13:04,360 --> 00:13:08,720 Speaker 1: seal material that's largely silicon and aluminum, and the ocean 222 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:13,120 Speaker 1: floors were sema that's silicon and magnesium. Seal was less 223 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:16,240 Speaker 1: dense than sema so the seal continents could float along 224 00:13:16,280 --> 00:13:19,400 Speaker 1: the sema ocean floor, kind of like icebergs float on 225 00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:22,600 Speaker 1: the ocean. Veganer thought that at some point, about two 226 00:13:22,640 --> 00:13:26,000 Speaker 1: hundred million years ago, all the continents had been connected 227 00:13:26,040 --> 00:13:29,439 Speaker 1: into one land mass that he called Pangaea, and then 228 00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:32,679 Speaker 1: something had broken them apart and allowed them to migrate 229 00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:37,240 Speaker 1: around the Earth. He thought this motion explained how mountains formed. 230 00:13:37,360 --> 00:13:40,000 Speaker 1: It wasn't that the Earth was cooling and shrinking like 231 00:13:40,040 --> 00:13:42,760 Speaker 1: a prune, or that mountains were being pushed up by 232 00:13:42,760 --> 00:13:45,760 Speaker 1: the force of colliding continents. He thought they were formed 233 00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:49,120 Speaker 1: by the resistance that the continents experienced as they were 234 00:13:49,160 --> 00:13:52,600 Speaker 1: sort of pillowing through the ocean floor beneath them, sort 235 00:13:52,600 --> 00:13:54,800 Speaker 1: of like the way it's tablecloth wrinkles if you try 236 00:13:54,800 --> 00:13:58,360 Speaker 1: to push it across the table. Veganer also thought the 237 00:13:58,360 --> 00:14:01,360 Speaker 1: islands were pieces that had broken off the continents as 238 00:14:01,400 --> 00:14:04,560 Speaker 1: they were moving. Veganer was not entirely sure what was 239 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:08,240 Speaker 1: providing the energy needed for the continents to move. He 240 00:14:08,320 --> 00:14:11,160 Speaker 1: proposed several possibilities, and the one that he focused on 241 00:14:11,200 --> 00:14:13,720 Speaker 1: the most was that it was some kind of energy 242 00:14:13,800 --> 00:14:17,600 Speaker 1: related to irregularities in the planet's rotation on its axis. 243 00:14:18,559 --> 00:14:21,520 Speaker 1: Veganer detailed all this in two papers published in nineteen 244 00:14:21,560 --> 00:14:25,040 Speaker 1: eleven and nineteen twelve, both titled The Origin of Continents. 245 00:14:25,640 --> 00:14:31,240 Speaker 1: He cited evidence from several different fields, including geology, paleontology, geophysics, 246 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:35,840 Speaker 1: and geodesy, and on January sixth of nineteen twelve he 247 00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:39,800 Speaker 1: spoke about these ideas before the Geological Association in Frankfurt, 248 00:14:39,840 --> 00:14:41,960 Speaker 1: and then he presented on it at the Society for 249 00:14:42,040 --> 00:14:45,080 Speaker 1: the Advancement of Natural Science and Marburg, Germany a few 250 00:14:45,160 --> 00:14:48,640 Speaker 1: days after that. This was just dramatically different from how 251 00:14:48,680 --> 00:14:51,960 Speaker 1: most scientists understood the world at the time, and to 252 00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:55,760 Speaker 1: be clear, it's really not how we understand it today either. 253 00:14:56,200 --> 00:14:59,720 Speaker 1: But it also wasn't the only hypothesis out there. Other 254 00:14:59,760 --> 00:15:02,760 Speaker 1: g oologists had also put forth various ideas about how 255 00:15:02,760 --> 00:15:05,200 Speaker 1: the Earth's continents might have been joined together at some 256 00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:08,360 Speaker 1: point in the distant past. Basically, it was clear that 257 00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:10,760 Speaker 1: the whole model of the Earth is a molten object 258 00:15:10,840 --> 00:15:14,160 Speaker 1: that was cooling and contracting just wasn't correct, so a 259 00:15:14,240 --> 00:15:17,160 Speaker 1: lot of scientists were trying to figure out what really 260 00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:20,720 Speaker 1: was happening. Veganer had some supporters, or at least people 261 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:23,960 Speaker 1: who thought he might be onto something. These were especially 262 00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:27,240 Speaker 1: people who had personally seen or already knew about some 263 00:15:27,320 --> 00:15:29,920 Speaker 1: of the evidence that he had cited. But he also 264 00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:33,280 Speaker 1: had plenty of detractors. Some of this was rooted in 265 00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:36,280 Speaker 1: the details of his work. For example, he said that 266 00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:39,520 Speaker 1: Greenland was moving at about a hundred and twenty ft 267 00:15:39,560 --> 00:15:42,800 Speaker 1: or thirty six meters a year. That was an error, 268 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:46,760 Speaker 1: and it was easily disproved. It also didn't seem like 269 00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:50,680 Speaker 1: slight irregularities in the Earth's rotation could have provided nearly 270 00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:54,320 Speaker 1: enough energy to move entire continents, especially if those continents 271 00:15:54,320 --> 00:15:57,680 Speaker 1: were plowing their way through a less dense layer of 272 00:15:57,720 --> 00:16:00,920 Speaker 1: the planet underneath them. Some of the people who disagreed 273 00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:04,800 Speaker 1: with Veganer were particularly scathing about it. For example, Dr 274 00:16:04,920 --> 00:16:08,320 Speaker 1: Rollin T. Chamberlain of the University of Chicago said, quote, 275 00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:12,360 Speaker 1: Veganer's hypothesis in general is of the footloose type, and 276 00:16:12,400 --> 00:16:15,480 Speaker 1: that it takes considerable liberty with our globe and is 277 00:16:15,560 --> 00:16:18,840 Speaker 1: less bound by restrictions or tied down by awkward, ugly 278 00:16:18,920 --> 00:16:22,240 Speaker 1: facts than most of its rival theories. So this wasn't 279 00:16:22,360 --> 00:16:26,000 Speaker 1: really a case of one man, Alfred Wegener against the 280 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:29,400 Speaker 1: whole of science. Enough people thought he was at least 281 00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:32,520 Speaker 1: partially correct that they became known as the mobilists, while 282 00:16:32,520 --> 00:16:36,360 Speaker 1: people who disagreed were called the antimobilist or the fixi ists. 283 00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:38,520 Speaker 1: This was not the end of Veganer's work on his 284 00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:41,560 Speaker 1: continental drift theory, but he did keep working on lots 285 00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:43,920 Speaker 1: of other stuff during his career, and we're going to 286 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:46,400 Speaker 1: talk a little bit more about that after we pause 287 00:16:46,520 --> 00:16:56,600 Speaker 1: for a sponsor break. Alfred Wegener took another expedition to 288 00:16:56,640 --> 00:17:01,280 Speaker 1: Greenland starting in This was another tread Turris expedition meant 289 00:17:01,320 --> 00:17:04,320 Speaker 1: to cross and survey the Greenland ice sheet from east 290 00:17:04,359 --> 00:17:07,600 Speaker 1: to west, including spending the entire winter out there on 291 00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:10,960 Speaker 1: my sheet. At one point, a glacier that the team 292 00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:14,879 Speaker 1: was on unexpectedly calved, and Veganer wrote that they quote 293 00:17:15,080 --> 00:17:19,359 Speaker 1: escaped death only by a miracle. Veganer and Elsa Coppin 294 00:17:19,440 --> 00:17:22,600 Speaker 1: that we mentioned earlier had gotten engaged before that expedition, 295 00:17:23,080 --> 00:17:26,320 Speaker 1: and they married after he returned in nineteen thirteen. They 296 00:17:26,320 --> 00:17:30,520 Speaker 1: would eventually have three daughters together. Ellis was a translator, 297 00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:34,520 Speaker 1: translating scientific works, including some by her husband. She also 298 00:17:34,560 --> 00:17:37,480 Speaker 1: published a biography of Alfred, including parts of his notes 299 00:17:37,520 --> 00:17:40,879 Speaker 1: and journals after his death. Veganer's work as a scientist 300 00:17:40,920 --> 00:17:43,960 Speaker 1: and a researcher was interrupted by World War One. He 301 00:17:44,040 --> 00:17:46,480 Speaker 1: served in the German Army, first as a lieutenant and 302 00:17:46,480 --> 00:17:49,840 Speaker 1: then as a captain. He was wounded twice, once in 303 00:17:49,920 --> 00:17:53,520 Speaker 1: August nine fourteen in Belgium, and then once again in 304 00:17:53,560 --> 00:17:57,360 Speaker 1: France on October four of that same year. That second 305 00:17:57,400 --> 00:18:00,080 Speaker 1: injury was a lot worse. He was shot in the 306 00:18:00,200 --> 00:18:03,000 Speaker 1: neck and had to go home to recover. He used 307 00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:05,879 Speaker 1: that recovery time to write his book, The Origin of 308 00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:09,840 Speaker 1: Continents and Oceans, which expanded on his earlier ideas around 309 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:13,960 Speaker 1: continental drift. Once Veganer was sufficiently recovered, he returned to 310 00:18:13,960 --> 00:18:16,959 Speaker 1: the army, this time serving with the Field Weather Service 311 00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:21,240 Speaker 1: as a meteorologist. This was not a particularly taxing assignment. 312 00:18:21,560 --> 00:18:23,600 Speaker 1: He was stationed on the Western Front, which was a 313 00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:27,080 Speaker 1: dangerous place to be, but his daily duties mostly involved 314 00:18:27,119 --> 00:18:30,879 Speaker 1: making some routine weather observations. So he spent this time 315 00:18:30,920 --> 00:18:34,119 Speaker 1: on study and research, writing a paper called on the 316 00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:37,679 Speaker 1: Formation of hoar Frost on Horse Corpses, as well as 317 00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:41,240 Speaker 1: a book called Tornadoes and Water Spouts in Europe. This 318 00:18:41,280 --> 00:18:45,040 Speaker 1: book pulled together information on two hundred fifty eight reported 319 00:18:45,080 --> 00:18:48,760 Speaker 1: tornadoes that had struck in Europe between fourteen fifty six 320 00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:52,240 Speaker 1: and nineteen thirteen, because he could only get to one 321 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:56,080 Speaker 1: library to do his research because he was literally stationed 322 00:18:56,080 --> 00:18:58,439 Speaker 1: at the Western Front during a war. Most of the 323 00:18:58,480 --> 00:19:01,560 Speaker 1: tornadoes in question were in wet eatern Europe, reasonably near 324 00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:04,840 Speaker 1: where he was stationed. This was the first Pan European 325 00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:09,040 Speaker 1: book on tornado climatology, and it was really thorough. His 326 00:19:09,119 --> 00:19:12,320 Speaker 1: intent was not to speculate on the causes of tornadoes 327 00:19:12,320 --> 00:19:15,080 Speaker 1: and water spouts, which was not settled at that point. 328 00:19:15,560 --> 00:19:17,800 Speaker 1: It was instead to pull together a wealth of data 329 00:19:17,920 --> 00:19:20,560 Speaker 1: on how large the tornadoes were and when and where 330 00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:23,760 Speaker 1: they struck and how they moved, along with other details 331 00:19:23,800 --> 00:19:27,200 Speaker 1: like what they smelled and sounded like and any electrical 332 00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:31,280 Speaker 1: phenomena associated with them. On April third of nineteen sixteen, 333 00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:34,399 Speaker 1: while Veganer was at home in Marburg for Easter, a 334 00:19:34,600 --> 00:19:39,400 Speaker 1: meteorite struck outside the nearby town of Treza. To professors 335 00:19:39,400 --> 00:19:42,199 Speaker 1: from the University of Marbor got in touch with Veganer 336 00:19:42,240 --> 00:19:45,120 Speaker 1: about trying to figure out where this meteorite had fallen. 337 00:19:45,600 --> 00:19:50,320 Speaker 1: So wegener cross referenced newspaper accounts and eyewitnessed statements try 338 00:19:50,400 --> 00:19:54,720 Speaker 1: to calculate its trajectory, eventually requesting some additional leave from 339 00:19:54,720 --> 00:19:57,240 Speaker 1: the army to try to finish up this work. When 340 00:19:57,280 --> 00:20:01,160 Speaker 1: the meteorites remains were found on March of nineteen seventeen, 341 00:20:01,240 --> 00:20:03,760 Speaker 1: they were very close to the spot that he had predicted. 342 00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:06,960 Speaker 1: Later in World War One, Veganer was transferred to the 343 00:20:06,960 --> 00:20:10,000 Speaker 1: Eastern Front and then back to the Western Front. He 344 00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:12,680 Speaker 1: kept working on his book on tornadoes, which came out 345 00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:16,600 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventeen. Once the war was over, Veganer had 346 00:20:16,640 --> 00:20:19,560 Speaker 1: trouble finding work at a university, and this seems to 347 00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:22,280 Speaker 1: have been at least as much about economic conditions as 348 00:20:22,320 --> 00:20:25,399 Speaker 1: it was about his controversial theories about how the Earth worked. 349 00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:28,800 Speaker 1: He and Elsa eventually moved in with her father, and 350 00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:31,800 Speaker 1: Alfred went to work at the German Marine Weather Observatory, 351 00:20:31,840 --> 00:20:34,720 Speaker 1: in a position that his father in law had previously held. 352 00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:37,880 Speaker 1: Beganer held his position for five years, and he did 353 00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:41,840 Speaker 1: have teaching privileges at the University of Hamburg. In one 354 00:20:42,119 --> 00:20:46,040 Speaker 1: Veganer published research on the causes of lunar craters. At 355 00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:49,159 Speaker 1: the time, there were four primary hypotheses about what had 356 00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:52,120 Speaker 1: caused the craters on the lunar surface that they were 357 00:20:52,119 --> 00:20:54,959 Speaker 1: the remnants of some kind of bubbles that had collapsed, 358 00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:58,160 Speaker 1: that they had been caused by title forces, that they 359 00:20:58,160 --> 00:21:02,399 Speaker 1: were volcanoes, or that they were the aftermath of meteorite impacts. 360 00:21:02,800 --> 00:21:07,040 Speaker 1: Veganer used cement powder to simulate both the lunar surface 361 00:21:07,160 --> 00:21:11,040 Speaker 1: and the meteorites, basically throwing little bits of cement powder 362 00:21:11,080 --> 00:21:14,320 Speaker 1: at a layer of cement powder with a teaspoon. Then 363 00:21:14,359 --> 00:21:17,880 Speaker 1: he would carefully missed the surface of the simulated moon 364 00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:20,920 Speaker 1: to set the powder. Once that was done, he would 365 00:21:20,960 --> 00:21:24,280 Speaker 1: measure and document the craters that had been formed. In 366 00:21:24,359 --> 00:21:27,360 Speaker 1: the pamphlet that he published on this subject, Veganer outlined 367 00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:31,720 Speaker 1: various arguments against the other three hypotheses before detailing how 368 00:21:31,760 --> 00:21:36,000 Speaker 1: these simulations supported the idea that meteorite impacts had caused 369 00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:40,480 Speaker 1: the craters on the Moon. I love this so much, honestly, 370 00:21:40,520 --> 00:21:43,639 Speaker 1: so do I. It's Alfred Veganer's crafty time that is 371 00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:50,160 Speaker 1: very scientifically grounded. I love it. Uh. It's simultaneously very 372 00:21:50,240 --> 00:21:56,000 Speaker 1: charming and really cool. It's ingenious. Veganer published another edition 373 00:21:56,080 --> 00:21:58,640 Speaker 1: of his book on the Origins of Continents, and this 374 00:21:58,680 --> 00:22:01,800 Speaker 1: one was translated into sere languages. It was still a 375 00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:06,280 Speaker 1: controversial work, but it was not unanimously dismissed. Two years later, 376 00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:09,040 Speaker 1: in nineteen twenty four, Veganer and his father in law 377 00:22:09,160 --> 00:22:13,199 Speaker 1: published a book called Climates of the Geological Past. That 378 00:22:13,359 --> 00:22:16,720 Speaker 1: same year, Beganer became a professor at the University of Gratz, 379 00:22:16,760 --> 00:22:19,480 Speaker 1: where he was the chair of the departments of Meteorology 380 00:22:19,520 --> 00:22:23,720 Speaker 1: and Geophysics. He also published another expanded edition of his 381 00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:27,119 Speaker 1: earlier work on continental drift, this one also called The 382 00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:31,360 Speaker 1: Origin of Continents and Oceans. By ninety six, Veganer's theories 383 00:22:31,359 --> 00:22:33,920 Speaker 1: on continental drift were well known on both sides of 384 00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:38,040 Speaker 1: the Atlantic, and that year the American Association of Petroleum 385 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:42,040 Speaker 1: Geologists held a symposium in New York City to discuss them. 386 00:22:42,320 --> 00:22:45,760 Speaker 1: Veganer was not there, and overall the symposium was very 387 00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:48,560 Speaker 1: critical of him. When he wrote the next edition of 388 00:22:48,560 --> 00:22:51,600 Speaker 1: his book on Continents and Oceans, he tried to address 389 00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:56,520 Speaker 1: at least some of their criticisms. In a tornado touched 390 00:22:56,600 --> 00:23:00,640 Speaker 1: down near Gratz, and that rekindled Begner's interest in subject. 391 00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:04,040 Speaker 1: He and Elsa walked the path that the tornado had followed. 392 00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:07,720 Speaker 1: They took statements from eyewitnesses, and Vegada agreed to work 393 00:23:07,760 --> 00:23:11,199 Speaker 1: with meteorologists Johannes Letzman on a project to try to 394 00:23:11,240 --> 00:23:15,920 Speaker 1: determine the causes of tornadoes. The following year, Veganer published 395 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:18,679 Speaker 1: the final edition of his book on the Origins of 396 00:23:18,720 --> 00:23:22,840 Speaker 1: Continents and Oceans, this one proposing six possible mechanisms for 397 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:27,040 Speaker 1: what might cause continental drift. As that happened, Veganer was 398 00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:30,280 Speaker 1: planning another trip to Greenland. This time he planned to 399 00:23:30,280 --> 00:23:32,600 Speaker 1: set up a weather station on the ice sheet, where 400 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:36,200 Speaker 1: a team would overwinter for two years to systematically gather 401 00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:40,199 Speaker 1: data about the polar climate. Veganer was almost fifty and 402 00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:43,960 Speaker 1: he recruited several younger scientists for this expedition, hoping to 403 00:23:44,040 --> 00:23:47,359 Speaker 1: make sure there would be a new generation of polar researchers. 404 00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:51,800 Speaker 1: This expedition really struggled from the start. The stock market 405 00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:56,160 Speaker 1: crash of affected the global economy, and their funding almost 406 00:23:56,200 --> 00:23:59,400 Speaker 1: fell through. When they got to Greenland on April fift 407 00:23:59,760 --> 00:24:03,159 Speaker 1: nine thirty, the harbor was impassively ice over, and it 408 00:24:03,320 --> 00:24:07,280 Speaker 1: stayed that way for two months. The expedition had nearly 409 00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:10,439 Speaker 1: a hundred tons of supplies to unload, and it was 410 00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:13,600 Speaker 1: basically impossible for them to start doing so until July. 411 00:24:14,680 --> 00:24:18,399 Speaker 1: Then they faced unusually bad weather and propeller sleds that 412 00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:21,000 Speaker 1: did not work as they had hoped, which kept them 413 00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:23,479 Speaker 1: from being able to haul their equipment very well. They 414 00:24:23,520 --> 00:24:25,800 Speaker 1: had planned to set up a camp called ice Mita 415 00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:28,879 Speaker 1: or mid Ice part way across the continent, but as 416 00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:33,640 Speaker 1: winter approached they were woefully behind schedule. Ideally, Ice Meta 417 00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:36,399 Speaker 1: would have been totally set up and fully supplied before 418 00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:39,280 Speaker 1: the weather became impassable, and the teams at the mid 419 00:24:39,280 --> 00:24:41,760 Speaker 1: Ice station and on the coast would stay where they 420 00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:46,080 Speaker 1: were until spring. Instead, by September, the shelter for the 421 00:24:46,119 --> 00:24:49,440 Speaker 1: mid Ice station and most of their supplies we're still 422 00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:53,320 Speaker 1: sitting at the harbor, but researchers Johannes Georgie and Earned 423 00:24:53,440 --> 00:24:56,480 Speaker 1: Sores were at the station. Veganer and some of his 424 00:24:56,600 --> 00:24:59,679 Speaker 1: colleagues were absolutely convinced that they if they did not 425 00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:03,920 Speaker 1: it more supplies out to Icemanta. The two researchers there 426 00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:08,240 Speaker 1: were not going to survive the winter. Veganer letter relief expedition, 427 00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:11,680 Speaker 1: which departed by sled on September twenty one. As they 428 00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:15,320 Speaker 1: progressed across the ice sheet, though nearly everybody with them 429 00:25:15,359 --> 00:25:20,480 Speaker 1: turned back because it was just too treacherous Veganer, Rasmus Willamson, 430 00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:23,560 Speaker 1: who was in Nook, and meteorologist Fritz Lowe were the 431 00:25:23,640 --> 00:25:26,240 Speaker 1: only ones who got all the way to Icemanta, and 432 00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:29,600 Speaker 1: they arrived there on October. By the time they got there, 433 00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:33,000 Speaker 1: low was suffering from extreme frost bite and his toes 434 00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:36,720 Speaker 1: had to be amputated. They were pretty surprised to find 435 00:25:36,800 --> 00:25:40,160 Speaker 1: the Icemanta team in an ice cave with enough supplies 436 00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:41,920 Speaker 1: that they hoped they would make it through the winter. 437 00:25:42,280 --> 00:25:45,879 Speaker 1: They were actually doing some scientific study from this improvised 438 00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:49,480 Speaker 1: research set station in the ice cave. Basically, they seemed 439 00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:53,000 Speaker 1: to be doing okay with two people, but they definitely 440 00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:56,080 Speaker 1: did not have the supplies to sustained three more for 441 00:25:56,119 --> 00:26:00,320 Speaker 1: the whole winter. So Veganer and Villamson decided to head 442 00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:04,000 Speaker 1: back to the coast, leaving Low behind to recuperate. Those 443 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:06,600 Speaker 1: two men left on November one, hoping that the wind 444 00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:08,920 Speaker 1: that they had been fighting on their way in would 445 00:26:08,960 --> 00:26:11,560 Speaker 1: help them on the way out. So the team at 446 00:26:11,560 --> 00:26:14,040 Speaker 1: the coast really didn't have a way of knowing any 447 00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:16,560 Speaker 1: of this, and the team at Isasmata didn't have a 448 00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:19,960 Speaker 1: way of knowing what happened After Veganer and villainson left 449 00:26:20,040 --> 00:26:23,080 Speaker 1: the ice cave in April of nineteen thirty one, wherein 450 00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:25,639 Speaker 1: there had been no word from the two men. People 451 00:26:25,680 --> 00:26:29,119 Speaker 1: started searching for them. Kurt Wegener came to Greenland to 452 00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:31,439 Speaker 1: take up his brother's spot at the head of the expedition. 453 00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:36,920 Speaker 1: Alfred Wegener's body was found on May twelfth, carefully laid 454 00:26:36,920 --> 00:26:40,720 Speaker 1: out and stitched into sleeping bag covers. The spot was 455 00:26:40,760 --> 00:26:43,119 Speaker 1: marked with a cairn and a pair of cross skis. 456 00:26:43,840 --> 00:26:46,159 Speaker 1: Veganer's cause of death is unknown, but it could have 457 00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:49,840 Speaker 1: been heart failure or possibly carbon monoxide poisoning from a 458 00:26:49,880 --> 00:26:53,200 Speaker 1: camp stove. Whatever the cause, it is clear that Rasmus 459 00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:56,320 Speaker 1: Williamson had survived Veganer and had tried to give him 460 00:26:56,320 --> 00:26:59,119 Speaker 1: as thoughtful a burial as was possible on an ice sheet, 461 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:02,600 Speaker 1: but Williamson was never seen again and his body was 462 00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:06,440 Speaker 1: never found. The team that found Veganer's body after this 463 00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:08,879 Speaker 1: search surrounded it with ice blocks and put up a 464 00:27:08,960 --> 00:27:12,679 Speaker 1: large iron cross. The German government offered to mount an 465 00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:16,800 Speaker 1: expedition to bring his body back to Germany, but Veganer's wife, 466 00:27:16,840 --> 00:27:20,639 Speaker 1: Elsa insisted that it be left where it was. Apparently 467 00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:23,480 Speaker 1: she found the idea that someday, as the ice shifted 468 00:27:23,560 --> 00:27:26,320 Speaker 1: and split, he might wind up floating at sea in 469 00:27:26,359 --> 00:27:29,639 Speaker 1: an iceberg. She thought that was a somewhat romantic and 470 00:27:29,720 --> 00:27:34,440 Speaker 1: suitable end for him. After Veganer's death, some scientists continued 471 00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:38,440 Speaker 1: to support his ideas of continental drift. British geologist Arthur 472 00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:41,400 Speaker 1: Holmes worked out a model that explained how the continents 473 00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:44,919 Speaker 1: moved through convection in the Earth's molten layers, but that 474 00:27:45,040 --> 00:27:48,280 Speaker 1: was controversial as well. That was a lot closer to 475 00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:52,760 Speaker 1: how we understand it today. Without its most vocal proponent, 476 00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:56,119 Speaker 1: the idea of continental drift mostly fell out of favor 477 00:27:56,240 --> 00:27:59,160 Speaker 1: in most places, although it does seem to have been 478 00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:02,800 Speaker 1: accepted by the Nazi government of Germany after Megan's death, 479 00:28:02,920 --> 00:28:05,439 Speaker 1: and it was sort of used as evidence of German 480 00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:09,800 Speaker 1: innovation and modernity in Nazi propaganda. The idea that the 481 00:28:09,840 --> 00:28:13,920 Speaker 1: continents were once connected by now sunken land bridges became 482 00:28:13,960 --> 00:28:17,720 Speaker 1: a lot more mainstream then. In the nineteen fifties and sixties, 483 00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:20,879 Speaker 1: a lot of research started backing up the basic idea 484 00:28:20,960 --> 00:28:23,800 Speaker 1: of continental drift. A lot of it was connected to 485 00:28:23,880 --> 00:28:27,760 Speaker 1: magnetism in molten material, magnetic particles line up with the 486 00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:31,119 Speaker 1: poles then stay in that position once the material cools 487 00:28:31,119 --> 00:28:35,840 Speaker 1: and solidifies. In the nineteen fifties, paleo magnetic research suggested 488 00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:39,280 Speaker 1: that Europe and North America had once been connected based 489 00:28:39,320 --> 00:28:42,719 Speaker 1: on the way these magnetic materials were oriented. Maps of 490 00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:45,560 Speaker 1: the ocean floor that were created starting in the nineteen 491 00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:49,120 Speaker 1: fifties made it clear that the sea floor is not flat. 492 00:28:49,560 --> 00:28:52,400 Speaker 1: There are mid ocean ridges that we now know a 493 00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:55,640 Speaker 1: ligne with the edges of tectonic plates. Study of these 494 00:28:55,760 --> 00:28:57,959 Speaker 1: ridges made it clear that they were both younger and 495 00:28:58,080 --> 00:29:00,800 Speaker 1: thinner than other parts of the sea floor. In the 496 00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:04,840 Speaker 1: nineteen sixties, researchers discovered what looked like magnetic stripes on 497 00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:08,760 Speaker 1: either side of these ridges, corresponding to the shifts and 498 00:29:08,760 --> 00:29:12,080 Speaker 1: the polarity of the Earth's magnetic field and that magnetic 499 00:29:12,080 --> 00:29:15,640 Speaker 1: phenomenon that we talked about earlier. Also in the nineteen sixties, 500 00:29:15,680 --> 00:29:19,560 Speaker 1: the worldwide Standardized Seismograph network made it possible to spot 501 00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:24,080 Speaker 1: global patterns in when and where earthquakes occurred, which once 502 00:29:24,120 --> 00:29:27,520 Speaker 1: again we're connected to the movement of tectonic plates. Together, 503 00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:30,600 Speaker 1: these and other discoveries made it clear that some of 504 00:29:30,680 --> 00:29:34,760 Speaker 1: Meganer's ideas were right. The continents are on tectonic plates, 505 00:29:34,760 --> 00:29:38,120 Speaker 1: and these plates slowly move, but his ideas for how 506 00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:40,640 Speaker 1: and why they move weren't really close to the mark. 507 00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:43,600 Speaker 1: The accepted idea today is that the plates are pushed 508 00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:47,000 Speaker 1: apart at the mid ocean ridges and in subduction zones, 509 00:29:47,280 --> 00:29:51,080 Speaker 1: one plate slides under its neighbor, pushing material back down 510 00:29:51,120 --> 00:29:54,240 Speaker 1: into the Earth's mantle. Most of the time, this movement 511 00:29:54,280 --> 00:29:57,640 Speaker 1: is explained through convection in the molten mantle, but there 512 00:29:57,760 --> 00:30:01,200 Speaker 1: is still some debate on exactly how this works. Yeah, 513 00:30:01,240 --> 00:30:05,040 Speaker 1: there's a lot of convection, but then in terms of like, okay, 514 00:30:05,040 --> 00:30:09,200 Speaker 1: how specifically is the convection making this do That's where 515 00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:13,240 Speaker 1: there's more debate still. Today, there is a lunar crater 516 00:30:13,520 --> 00:30:16,360 Speaker 1: named for Alfred Wegener, as well as the Alfred Wegener 517 00:30:16,480 --> 00:30:19,920 Speaker 1: Institute for Polar and Marine Research, and various honors and 518 00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:23,719 Speaker 1: awards bear his name as well. There's a theoretical explanation 519 00:30:23,840 --> 00:30:27,280 Speaker 1: for ice crystal formation and clouds called the Bergeron Fandyson 520 00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:31,959 Speaker 1: Beginer process. Vegner's former home is also now the Vegener Museum. 521 00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:34,200 Speaker 1: If you want to read a lot more about this 522 00:30:34,280 --> 00:30:37,240 Speaker 1: dispute about continental drift and how the idea grew into 523 00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:40,600 Speaker 1: plate tectonics. There is a four volume set called The 524 00:30:40,680 --> 00:30:45,360 Speaker 1: Continental Drift Controversy. It's more than pages long, so to 525 00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:47,680 Speaker 1: be clear, it was not part of the research for 526 00:30:47,720 --> 00:30:51,360 Speaker 1: this episode. That's a lot of pages. Yeah, it exists. 527 00:30:51,760 --> 00:30:54,120 Speaker 1: I wanted everyone to know in case you really are 528 00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:57,920 Speaker 1: so interested in finding out so so, so much more detail. 529 00:30:58,680 --> 00:31:02,160 Speaker 1: I don't know how many podcast episodes we would need 530 00:31:02,200 --> 00:31:07,400 Speaker 1: to be able to create to have pages of a 531 00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:12,320 Speaker 1: book be part of We'll just do a new podcast. 532 00:31:12,360 --> 00:31:15,520 Speaker 1: It's nothing but us reading that book aloud. Sure it 533 00:31:15,560 --> 00:31:19,960 Speaker 1: will get cajillions of listeners. Definitely. Do you have a 534 00:31:20,040 --> 00:31:23,520 Speaker 1: little bit of listener mail I do. This is from Snow. 535 00:31:23,840 --> 00:31:26,560 Speaker 1: Snow says, Hello, Holly and Tracy. I've been enjoying your 536 00:31:26,560 --> 00:31:29,200 Speaker 1: podcast for about a year now, both on my long 537 00:31:29,240 --> 00:31:32,000 Speaker 1: commute and while sewing on my time off. Through you, 538 00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:35,040 Speaker 1: I discovered saw Bones, and then through them, I found 539 00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:37,840 Speaker 1: Adam Conover's podcast. So, in addition to the enjoyment I 540 00:31:37,840 --> 00:31:39,480 Speaker 1: get from your work, thank you for guiding me to 541 00:31:39,520 --> 00:31:43,320 Speaker 1: other great entertainment slash learning options. I wanted to write 542 00:31:43,320 --> 00:31:46,120 Speaker 1: today because three times very recently I've laughed so loudly 543 00:31:46,160 --> 00:31:48,600 Speaker 1: in my car that other drivers probably heard me the 544 00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:51,320 Speaker 1: first two times. I'm pretty sure Holly was reading my mind. 545 00:31:51,880 --> 00:31:54,600 Speaker 1: While listening to the Saturday Classic on Maria tal Chief, 546 00:31:54,680 --> 00:31:58,400 Speaker 1: I winced upon hearing about her starting point work too early, 547 00:31:58,720 --> 00:32:01,360 Speaker 1: only a second before Alli said that ballet fans who 548 00:32:01,400 --> 00:32:05,440 Speaker 1: were now listening probably winced at that My undergrad degree 549 00:32:05,600 --> 00:32:09,600 Speaker 1: is in ballet and modern dance, although I'm a librarian now. Then, 550 00:32:09,640 --> 00:32:12,000 Speaker 1: while listening to the episode on The witch Finder General, 551 00:32:12,040 --> 00:32:13,880 Speaker 1: I was thinking to myself that I needed to make 552 00:32:13,920 --> 00:32:16,440 Speaker 1: note of the names of the witches familiars because they 553 00:32:16,440 --> 00:32:19,640 Speaker 1: would be great pet names. Again, immediately before, Holly said 554 00:32:19,640 --> 00:32:23,280 Speaker 1: exactly the same thing. Finally, Tracy made me laugh during 555 00:32:23,320 --> 00:32:25,760 Speaker 1: the first of year behind the scenes many episodes when 556 00:32:25,800 --> 00:32:28,320 Speaker 1: she said that she is sure she'd be accused of 557 00:32:28,400 --> 00:32:32,360 Speaker 1: witchcraft due to being outspoken and having pet black cats. Well, 558 00:32:32,400 --> 00:32:35,200 Speaker 1: I too am outspoken and only getting more so as 559 00:32:35,240 --> 00:32:37,520 Speaker 1: I settled firmly into middle age. But instead of cats, 560 00:32:37,560 --> 00:32:40,640 Speaker 1: I have two dogs and five pet rats. Here's the 561 00:32:40,720 --> 00:32:44,760 Speaker 1: feisty women and their various familiars for pets. Anyway, thanks 562 00:32:44,760 --> 00:32:46,720 Speaker 1: for many hours of fun and edication. Keep up the 563 00:32:46,760 --> 00:32:50,520 Speaker 1: great work, Snow. Thank you so much Snow for this email. 564 00:32:50,520 --> 00:32:52,880 Speaker 1: I wanted to read it number one because I thought 565 00:32:52,880 --> 00:32:57,080 Speaker 1: those were three funny moments in our recent podcast episodes. 566 00:32:57,720 --> 00:33:00,200 Speaker 1: But I saw also I had forgotten at this point 567 00:33:00,240 --> 00:33:03,760 Speaker 1: because this was literally twenty years ago. Um for a 568 00:33:03,840 --> 00:33:06,920 Speaker 1: period of a few years, just after I graduated from college, 569 00:33:06,960 --> 00:33:10,840 Speaker 1: I also had a pet rat Um. I had a 570 00:33:10,840 --> 00:33:15,200 Speaker 1: pet rat and three cats at that point, so very 571 00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:19,680 Speaker 1: suspicious behavior, although I was quite young then, right. Anyway, 572 00:33:19,840 --> 00:33:22,920 Speaker 1: sometimes I think there's some Chuo Picabra, DNA and Mr Burns, 573 00:33:22,920 --> 00:33:27,600 Speaker 1: which I don't know what that makes me, but so 574 00:33:27,640 --> 00:33:29,600 Speaker 1: thank you so much Snow for that. If you would 575 00:33:29,600 --> 00:33:31,959 Speaker 1: like to write to us, we actually have a new 576 00:33:32,160 --> 00:33:36,040 Speaker 1: email address. It is History Podcast at I heart radio 577 00:33:36,200 --> 00:33:39,040 Speaker 1: dot com. You can write to us about this or 578 00:33:39,040 --> 00:33:41,360 Speaker 1: any other podcast episode, or just to say hi, or 579 00:33:41,400 --> 00:33:44,080 Speaker 1: send us pictures of your pets. Any of those things 580 00:33:44,120 --> 00:33:47,080 Speaker 1: all great. We love email. You can also find us 581 00:33:47,120 --> 00:33:49,600 Speaker 1: all over social media at missed in History. That's where 582 00:33:49,600 --> 00:33:53,000 Speaker 1: you'll find our Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. You can't 583 00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:54,960 Speaker 1: come to our website, which is missed in History dot 584 00:33:54,960 --> 00:33:57,040 Speaker 1: com to find show notes on all the episodes Holly 585 00:33:57,040 --> 00:33:59,480 Speaker 1: and I have worked on together. And a searchable archive 586 00:33:59,760 --> 00:34:02,760 Speaker 1: of the episodes. And you can subscribe to our show 587 00:34:02,800 --> 00:34:05,920 Speaker 1: on Apple podcast the I heart Radio app, or anywhere 588 00:34:05,920 --> 00:34:13,279 Speaker 1: else you get your podcasts. Stuff you Missed in History 589 00:34:13,280 --> 00:34:16,280 Speaker 1: Class is a production of I heart Radios How Stuff Works. 590 00:34:16,320 --> 00:34:19,040 Speaker 1: For more podcasts For my heart Radio, visit the iHeart 591 00:34:19,080 --> 00:34:22,080 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 592 00:34:22,120 --> 00:34:22,800 Speaker 1: favorite shows.