The Rejection of Continental Drift: Theory and Method in American Earth Science by Naomi Oreskes


The Rejection of Continental Drift: Theory and Method in American Earth Science
Title : The Rejection of Continental Drift: Theory and Method in American Earth Science
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 0195117336
ISBN-10 : 9780195117332
Language : English
Format Type : Paperback
Number of Pages : 432
Publication : First published January 4, 1999

In the early twentieth century, American earth scientists were united in their opposition to the new--and highly radical--notion of continental drift, even going so far as to label the theory "unscientific." Some fifty years later, however, continental drift was heralded as a major scientific breakthrough and today it is accepted as scientific fact. Why did American geologists reject so adamantly an idea that is now considered a cornerstone of the discipline? And why were their European colleagues receptive to it so much earlier? This book, based on extensive archival research on three continents, provides important new answers while giving the first detailed account of the American geological community in the first half of the century. Challenging previous historical work on this episode, Naomi Oreskes shows that continental drift was not rejected for the lack of a causal mechanism, but because it seemed to conflict with the basic standards of practice in American geology. This
account provides a compelling look at how scientific ideas are made and unmade.

The Rejection of Continental Drift: Theory and Method in American Earth Science Reviews

  • David

    Excellent history of the debate over Continental Drift that occurred in the United States beginning in the mid-1920s and continuing into the late 1960s. Oreskes does a superb job of presenting the science that lead up to Alfred Wegener's 1912 hypothesis that the continents have shifted over geologic time. She also presents the work of Frank Bursley Taylor, who proposed a similar theory in 1910, but notes that Wegener went to far greater lengths to find evidence and document that the continents have indeed moved over the face of the Earth through geologic time. Oreskes' primary hypothesis is that American (read U.S.) geologists rejected Wegener's hypothesis, at least in part, because of a difference scientific philosophy and approach to developing sound science.

    The book is very well researched and documented with many illustrations demonstrating the work of the geologists and geophysicists who struggled with the ideas. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in the history of plate tectonics.