Naomi Oreskes

The Rejection of Continental Drift (eBook, PDF)

Theory and Method in American Earth Science

• Format: PDF

Produktbeschreibung

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.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Oxford University Press
• Erscheinungstermin: 1. April 1999
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9780195353600
• Artikelnr.: 38139070

Inhaltsangabe

Introduction
Part 1: Not the Mechanism
1: Two Visions of the Earth
2: The Collapse of Thermal Contraction
3: To Reconcile Historical Geolgoy with Isotasy
4: Drift Mechanisms in the 1920s
5: From Fact to Theory
6: The Short Step Backward
7: Uniformitarianism and Unity
Part III: A Revolution in Acceptance
8: Direct and Indirect Evidence
9: An Evidentiary and Epistemic Shift
10: The Depersonalization of Geology
Epilogue: Unity and Truth
Notes
Bibliography