Outrageous History!

The Scientist Explorer who Died a Viking's Death

February 14, 2022 Ernest Granson Season 1 Episode 14
Outrageous History!
The Scientist Explorer who Died a Viking's Death
Show Notes

Alfred Wegener's life as a scientist in the early 1900s spanned numerous fields including astronomy and meteorology. But his theory of continental drift or displacement sparked a furor amongst geologists, many of whom branded him a scientific outsider, a reckless mischief maker ignorant of geological methods and given to wild speculations. As if that aspect of his life wasn't controversial enough, Wegner was also a driven polar explorer, who died on top of a Greenland glacier and whose remains are still buried in the ice.  Mott Greene, Professor Emeritus of Science, Technology, & Society, for the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington and author of "Alfred Wegener. Science,  Exploration, and the Theory of Continental Drift", takes us through the remarkable life of Alfred Wegner.