Alfred Wegener

Born in Berlin on November 1, 1880, Alfred Wegener studied physics, meteorology, and astronomy, and earned a doctorate in astronomy before building a career in meteorology and geophysics. During his lifetime, he was also known for polar research, taking part in expeditions to Greenland and writing about the atmosphere, climate, and the movement of air.

Wegener is most famous for arguing that the continents were once joined and later drifted apart. He laid out this idea in the early 1910s and developed it most fully in his 1915 book The Origin of Continents and Oceans. Many scientists rejected the theory while he was alive, but later discoveries in seafloor spreading and plate tectonics showed that his central insight was remarkably important.

His life ended during a Greenland expedition in 1930, but his reputation only grew afterward. Today he is remembered as a scientist who was willing to follow evidence across fields and challenge accepted ideas, even when the wider scientific world was not ready to agree.