The Dansk Polarcenter in Copenhagen, now home to the Arktisk Institut, contains Wegener’s correspondence concerning the Danmark Expedition of 1906–1908 and the Koch–Wegener Durchquerungsexpedition of 1912–1913. The Arktisk Institut’s collection of the papers of Dan Møller (a Danish colonial official in Umanak) includes much correspondence concerning Wegener’s last expeditions to Greenland in 1929 and in 1930–1931. In the notes these are identified as “DP Copenhagen,” with the document number following.
Ulrich Wutzke has prepared an annotated checklist of Wegener’s known surviving correspondence (letters to and from) and documents pertaining to his institutional careers—appointments, promotions, and so on: Alfred Wegener: Kommentiertes Verzeichnis der schriftlichen Dokumente seines Lebens und Wirkens, Berichte zur Polarforschung, vol. 288 (Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar-und-Meeresforschung, 1998). This document is available as a downloadable pdf at doi:hdl:10013/epic.10291.d007. References to all letters and documents concerning Wegener in the main body of my text contain the identifying number and year assigned by Wutzke. Wutzke’s detailed analysis of Wegener’s academic career is “Alfred Wegener als Hochschullehrer,” Zeitschrift für geologische Wissenschaften 25, nos. 5/6 (1997).
Wegener’s colleague in Graz, Hans Benndorf, prepared the standard list of Wegener’s published works: “Alfred Wegener,” Gerlands Beiträge zur Geophysik 31 (1931): 337–377. It is reprinted in the 1980 reissue of Wegener’s 1st and 4th editions: Alfred Wegener, Die Entstehung der Kontinente und Ozeane, vols. 1 and 4, Auflage Herausgegeben und mit einer Einleitung und einem Nachwort von Andreas Vogel (Braunschweig: Friedrich Vieweg & Sohn, 1980). Benndorf’s obituary essay, accompanying the list of publications, contains much of interest about Wegener’s years in Graz. The work of Helmut Flügel also contains much material about Wegener’s Graz years: see his Geologie und Paläontologie an der Universität Graz 1761.1976 (Graz: Akademische Druck-u. Verlagsanstalt, 1977); “Wegener-Ampferer-Schwinner: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Geologie in Österreich,” Mitteilung der Österreichen Geologischen Gesellschaft 73 (1980): 237–254; and Alfred Wegeners Vertraulicher Bericht über die Grönland-Expedition 1929 (Graz: Akademische Druck-u. Verlagsanstalt, 1980).
The main source of biographical information concerning Wegener’s life and career is the memoir written by his wife: Else Wegener, Alfred Wegener, Tagebücher, Briefe, Erinnerungen (Wiesbaden: F. A. Brockhaus, 1960). She also wrote a biography of her father, Wladimir Köppen, which contains much additional detail on Wegener’s life: Else Wegener-Köppen, Wladimir Köppen: Ein Gelehrtenleben für die Meteorologie (Stuttgart: Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft, 1955). The following two works by Johannes Georgi were written in parallel and perhaps in competition with Else Wegener, and though informative, they should be used with caution: “Alfred Wegener zum 80. Geburtstag,” Polarforschung 2 (1960): S1-102; and “Memories of Alfred Wegener,” in Continental Drift, edited by Stanley Keith Runcorn, 309–324 (New York: Academic Press, 1962). The popular biographies by Martin Schwarzbach—Alfred Wegener, the Father of Continental Drift (Madison, WI: Science Tech. Inc., 1986)—and Hans Günther Körber—Alfred Wegener (Potsdam: BSB B. G. Teubner, 1980)—both derive from Else Wegener’s account, though supplemented by additional research. The same may be said of Christine Reinke-Kunze’s Alfred Wegener, Polarforscher und Entdecker der Kontinentaldrift (Berlin: Birkhaüser, 1994). My views on writing the life stories of scientists are in Mott T. Greene, “Writing Scientific Biography,” Journal of the History of Biology 40 (2007): 727–759.
The Wegener biography by Ulrich Wutzke, Durch die Weiße Wüste: Leben und Leistung des Grönlandforschers und Entdeckers der Kontinentaldrift Alfred Wegener (Gotha: Justes Perthes, 1997), while following Else Wegener closely, gives an expanded account of Wegener’s travels and expeditions, though not too much detail on his science.
Cornelia Lüdecke has put Wegener in the context of the history of German polar science in her Die deutsche Polarforschung seit der Jahrhundertewende und die Einfluß Erich von Drygalskis, Berichte zur Polarforschung, vol. 158 (Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar-und-Meeresforschung, 1995). Her account of Wegener’s last expedition, “Lifting the Veil: The Circumstances That Caused Alfred Wegener’s Death on the Greenland Icecap, 1930,” Polar Record 36 (2000): 139–154, is very valuable and essential reading.
For a history of the continental drift controversy during and especially after Wegener’s life, the principal source is Henry Frankel, The Continental Drift Controversy, 4 vols. (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012). For opposition to Wegener in the United States and Great Britain, a very interesting perspective is available in Naomi Oreskes, The Rejection of Continental Drift: Theory and Method in American Earth Science (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999). This is complemented by Robert P. Newman’s “American Intransigence: The Rejection of Continental Drift in the Great Debates of the 1920s,” Earth Sciences History 14 (1995): 62–83. A technical account of the relative adequacy of Wegener’s ideas compared to other geodynamic hypotheses gets an interesting treatment in Adrian E. Scheidegger, Principles of Geodynamics, 2nd ed. (New York: Academic Press, 1963). Still useful is Homer E. LeGrand’s Drifting Continents and Shifting Theories (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988).
As a general orientation to the history of the earth sciences pertinent to Wegener’s career, I recommend my own book, Mott T. Greene, Geology in the Nineteenth Century: Changing Views of a Changing World (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1982). The best source for geophysics is Stephen G. Brush, A History of Modern Planetary Physics, 3 vols. (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996). For oceanography, see Susan B. Schlee, The Edge of an Unfamiliar World: A History of Oceanography (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1973). For meteorology, readers should consult A. Kh. Khrgian, Meteorology: A Historical Survey, 2nd ed. (Jerusalem: Israel Program for Scientific Translations, 1970); Karl Schneider-Carius, Weather Science and Weather Research (New Delhi: Indian Nat. Sci. Doc. Ctr., 1975); Gisela Kutzbach, The Thermal Theory of Cyclones: A History of Meteorological Thought in the Nineteenth Century (Boston: American Meteorological Society, 1979); and Robert Marc Friedman, Appropriating the Weather: Vilhelm Bjerknes and the Construction of Modern Meteorology (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1989). For the history of meteorological instrumentation, please see W. E. Knowles Middleton, Meteorological Instruments (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1941). For the history of solid mechanics, the main source is James F. Bell, The Experimental Foundations of Solid Mechanics (New York: Springer, 1984). For the history of geography and for geomorphology, by far the best is Robert Beckinsale and Richard Chorley, The History of the Study of Landforms; or, The Development of Geomorphology, vol. 3 (New York: Routledge, 1991). For meteoritics, my essay “Alfred Wegener and the Origin of Lunar Craters,” Earth Sciences History 17 (1998): 111–138, gives some detail, and so does Kathleen Mark, Meteorite Craters (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1987). Those interested in map projections and their history should consult John P. Snyder, Flattening the Earth: Two Thousand Years of Map Projections (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993); and David Greenhood, Mapping (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1964).
There is little yet written on the history of climatology, though Pamela Robinson, “Paleoclimatology and Continental Drift,” in Implications of Continental Drift to the Earth Sciences, edited by D. H. Tarling and S. K. Runcorn, 451–476 (London: Academic Press, 1973), is interesting, as is Judith Totman Parrish, “A Brief Discussion of the History, Strengths, and Limitations of Conceptual Climate Models for Pre-Quaternary Time,” in Paleoclimates and Their Modeling with Special Reference to the Mesozoic Era, edited by J. R. L. Allen (London: Chapman & Hall, 1993).
The Dictionary of Scientific Biography remains invaluable, and toward the end of my research I found it wise not to turn up my nose at Wikipedia, especially for supplementary biographical data on figures not included in printed works.
Index
Abderhalden, Emil, 219, 225, 230
acoustics, atmospheric. See atmospheric acoustics
Adhémar, Joseph, 470
AEROARCTIC (International Society for the Exploration of the Arctic), 528, 536, 539, 541, 562
aerology, 52; instrument technology used in, 69–73; research in, 68–69, 130–131, 153, 156–158, 172–175, 183; terminology of, 68–69. See also atmosphere; balloons; kites; meteorological research
aeronomy, 52
Africa: as arbitrary reference frame, 552, 553; and congruence with the coast of South America, 214–217, 233–234, 235–236, 245, 252, 259, 267, 268, 269, 337, 367, 376, 415, 434, 440, 450–451, 547–549; as shown on Wegener’s maps, 433, 434, 435, 452, 453, 489, 490, 504–505, 552
air waves. See Helmholtz air waves
aircraft, fixed-wing: accidents involving, 540; as applied to scientific research, 347, 364, 383, 393, 446; Kurt Wegener as pilot of, 324; as used in polar exploration, 539–540, 561
Airy, George, 443, 454
Aitken, John, 201
Akademisch-Astronomischen Verein (Academic Astronomical Society), 34
Albert of Monaco, Prince, 67, 156
Albien limestone, 233–234
Albrecht, Carl, 319–320, 329, 398
Alfonsine Tables: Wegener’s dissertation on, 59–64
Alfonso X, 59
Alps: Alfred and Kurt’s exploration of, 36–37; ancient origins of, 243; as fold structures, 36, 263, 410–411, 440; geology of, 36; nappe theory of, 410
Althoff, Friedrich, 17, 19
Amdrup, Georg, 100, 153
American Association of Petroleum Geologists, 523
Ampferer, Otto, 334, 366, 510–511, 531, 558
Amundsen, Roald, 101, 154, 182, 183, 540, 595, 596
Anaxagoras, 64
Andes: formation of, 268, 269, 410–411, 552
Andree, Karl (cartographer): atlas of the world by, 214–217, 363, 401
Andrée, Karl (geologist), 409, 416; on continental displacements, 363–364, 374, 404, 428; on the permanence debate, 366–368, 371
Angenheister, Gustav, 513, 529, 563
Antarctica: cancellation of expedition to, 217–218; Drygalski’s expedition to, 93, 99, 129, 182, 542; Filchner’s expedition to, 182–183, 542; Wegener’s interest in, 182–183
anti-Semitism: in Germany, 49, 468
Argand, Emile, 370, 523; as supporter of Wegener’s theory, 483–485, 494, 520
Arktis, 539; Wegener as contributing editor to, 541
Arldt, Theodor, 367, 432, 440, 526; Evolutionary Development of the Continents and Their Life Forms, 242–243, 245–246, 268; Handbuch der Paläogeographie, 414
Arrhenius, Svante, 55, 67, 210, 431
aspiration meteorograph, 69–70
Aßmann, Richard, 33–34, 67, 77, 81, 82, 98, 167, 180–181, 185, 201; and discovery of the stratosphere, 73–76, 163; instruments devised by, 69, 70, 72, 78–79, 85, 112; publication honoring, 339–340, 344–345, 350; as supportive of Wegener’s career, 94, 98–99, 159, 169, 170–171, 192, 319, 329
astronomy: as academic pursuit, 57; Copernicus’s contribution to, 239–240; history of, 56, 239–240; Wegener’s university studies in, 24–26, 28–29, 31–33, 54–58
Atlantic coasts: parallelism of, 266–267
Atlantic Ocean: depth measurements of, 215–216
Atlas (Andree), 214–217
atmosphere: chemical composition of, 187–190, 207–208, 328; cross section of, 207, 211; gases in, 187–188, 207–208, 211, 213, 328, 362; ice formation in, 199–201; layers of the, 76, 77, 80–81, 88, 130–131, 142, 162–166, 184, 528, 600; lunar tides in, 339; mapping of the, 156; mechanics of the, 197–199; physics of the, 76, 81, 175, 186, 190, 192–197, 202, 226, 338–339, 507, 508–509, 514; refraction of light in, 146, 508, 528; scientific study of, 33, 52–54, 77–82, 172–175; state curve of the, 168–169; structure of the, 183–184; thermodynamics of the, 192–197, 199–201, 203–209, 281, 362, 436, 518; vortex motions in, 317–318; Wegener’s theories of, 124–125, 183–185, 186–190. See also aerology; boundary layer; Danmark Expedition; inversion layers; kites; stratosphere; tropopause; troposphere
atmospheric acoustics, 323, 328, 508, 509
atmospheric discontinuities: Wegener’s research on, 88, 90, 156, 167–169, 173–174, 186–190, 323, 359–360; and data from the Danmark Expedition, 162–166; between the troposphere and the stratosphere, 169
atmospheric electricity, 498, 529–530, 533
atmospheric optics, 146, 226, 323, 507–508, 513, 518, 529, 530, 562, 600
aurora borealis: scientific study of, 52, 124–125, 147, 172–173, 190, 528
Australasian Expedition, 93
ballooning, manned: Kurt and Alfred in international balloon competition, 95, 96–98; for scientific research, 82–85, 181, 203; Wegener’s adventures in, 203, 226; Wegener’s early experiences with, 83–85
balloons: as used during the Danmark Expedition, 107, 108, 109, 110, 112–113, 114, 124, 127, 130, 139–140, 141–142, 145, 152–153; as used in meteorological research, 72–73, 75–76, 80–81, 89–90, 156–157, 462–464, 465–466, 514
Balto, Samuel, 221
Bantzer, Karl, 170
Barrell, Joseph, 478–479, 524
Barth, Johann Ambrosius, 205
Baschin, Otto, 445
Batterman, Hans, 31, 32
Bauschinger, Julius, 31, 32–33, 52, 55, 56, 58, 59, 61, 324, 352
Becker, Carl, 379, 383
Behr, Fritz, 351
Benndorf, Hans, 57, 497, 498, 505, 506–507, 512, 513, 529–530, 533, 543, 563
Bennett, Floyd, 539
Bergen, Norway: international conference in, 428, 430–431
Bergeron, Tor, 201, 318, 430, 517, 600
Berkey, Charles, 523
Berlin Aeronautical Society, 33, 82
Berlin, Germany: air quality in, 9; in the late nineteenth century, 1–2; Spartakus uprising in, 383. See also Geographical Society; University of Berlin
Bernd-Richarz Stiftung, 378
Berry, Edward W., 523
Berson, Arthur, 34, 67, 68, 82, 83, 94–95, 156, 167, 169, 539; illness and retirement of, 180; Wegener’s dispute with, 171, 179–180
Bertelsen, Aage, 102–103, 111, 114, 126, 135, 147, 153, 278, 559, 567
Bezold, Wilhelm von, 58, 66, 82, 142, 145, 156, 199; on atmospheric thermodynamics, 193; as professor of meteorology, 33–34, 56, 57, 67, 163
Bidlingsmaier, Friedrich, 99, 181
Bismarck, Otto von, 4, 14
Bjerknes, Honoria, 340, 341
Bjerknes, Vilhelm, 279, 362, 428, 431; approach to his work, 316; and Felix Exner, 280, 283, 430, 436, 511, 516–517; and Else Köppen, 283, 286, 311, 316; meteorological research of, 174–175, 190, 197–198, 199, 225, 281, 318, 322, 328, 340–341, 346, 432, 435–436
Blaas, Josef, 35
Blackboro, Perce, 93
Blackwelder, Eliot, 486
Blanckenhorn, Max, 487
Bölsche, Wilhelm, 49, 50
Boltzmann, Ludwig, 24
Börgen, Karl, 274
Böse, Emil, 331
Boswell, P. G. H., 482
botany, Alpine, 35–36
boundary layer: Krakatoa cloud as evidence of, 186; scientific investigation of, 76, 77, 130, 131, 163, 169, 173, 183, 186–189. See also atmosphereic discontinuities
Bowie, William, 519–520, 522, 523
Bradley, James, 25
Brahe, Tycho, 239, 556
Brand, Walther, 205, 220, 280, 282, 283, 352, 354, 431
Brennecke, Carl Wilhelm, 392, 430–431
Brest-Litovsk, Treaty of, 379, 380
British Association for the Advancement of Science, 518–519
Brønlund, Jørgen, 102, 106, 117, 118, 119, 121, 124, 125, 134–135; death of, 149–150, 153
Brooks, Charles: Climate through the Ages, 525–527
Brouwer, Aart, 234, 549
Brückentheorie. See land bridge theory
Brückmann, Walter, 181, 184
Brückner, Eduard, 345,
493, 495, 509, 510, 528
Brüning, Heinrich, 595
Bruns, Walther, 562
Bunsen, Robert, 27
Burmeister, Friedrich, 457–458
Buschmann, Josef Ottokar Freiherr von, 475–475, 477
Byrd, Richard, 539, 561
Carboniferous: geological markers in, 235, 241, 472, 546, 551; glaciation in, 237–238, 241, 336, 413, 462, 504
Carlsberg Foundation, 224, 279, 535
Carnegie Institution, 225, 228, 229, 546
Carnot, Nicolas Léonard Sadi, 195
Carozzi, Albert, 484
Cathrein, Alois, 35
celestial mechanics: Wegener’s study of, 32–33, 55, 56, 59–60. See also astronomy
Challenger Expedition, 215–216, 407
Chamberlain, Houston Stewart, 49, 50, 214
Chamberlin, Rollin T., 523
Chamberlin, Thomas, 368, 486
Chandler wobble, 24–25, 272, 319
Chandler, Seth Carlo, 24, 276
Chatwin, C. P., 482
Chemnitz (Danish pastor), 310–311
Christensen, Jens, 87, 90
Christiansen, Knud, 104, 105
climate: geological indicators of, 461; history of, in middle Europe, 418; plants as indicators of, 426, 429; zones of, 426
climate change: continental displacements as cause of, 470; geological indicators of, 472–477; geographical inferences applied to, 475–476; Köppen and Wegener as coauthors of book on 469–477, 486–494; and pole migration, 427, 429, 470, 475, 489–490, 551–552; possible causes of, 429, 469–70; and solar radiation, 470–471, 493, 504; theories of, 427. See also ice ages
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