Description
Book SynopsisThis fourth volume of The Continental Drift Controversy explains the discoveries in the mid 1960s which led to the rapid acceptance of seafloor spreading theory and how the birth of plate tectonics followed soon after with the geometrification of geology. Plate tectonics continues to inspire geodynamic research to the present day.
Trade Review'What is so impressive about this monumental work is its completeness. Frankel has gone back to the original sources and papers, to ensure complete understanding of the scientific issues involved. I recommend these volumes to anyone interested in the subject.' Dan McKenzie, University of Cambridge
'Detailed and painstakingly researched, this account is the culmination of the author's research into this topic over more than thirty years. It is difficult to imagine a more comprehensive analysis of the relevant literature and of the attitudes of the scientists involved.' Fred Vine, Emeritus Professor, University of East Anglia
'Frankel has performed a huge and very valuable effort in pulling together not only original published sources but also unpublished correspondence from key authors, creating a timely and consistent picture of the crucial period when this revolution in the earth sciences occurred.' Lynn R. Sykes, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University
Praise for the 4-volume collection: '… an unparalleled study of remarkable depth, detail and quality of a key development in our ideas about how the Earth functions … because Frankel draws on his extensive oral historical work with the key players in the development of plate tectonics, this is a study which can never be repeated in terms of its proximity to the events narrated, so many of those key players now being deceased.' Progress in Physical Geography
Table of ContentsIntroduction; 1. Reception of competing views of seafloor evolution, 1961–2; 2. Explaining the origin of marine magnetic anomalies, 1958–63; 3. Continuing disagreements over continental drift, the evolution of ocean floors, and mantle convection, 1963–4; 4. Further work on the Vine–Matthews hypothesis and development of the idea of transform faults, 1964–5; 5. Resolution of the continental drift controversy; 6. Plate tectonics introduced; References; Index.
