Book ID: CBB455924853

‘Africa Forms the Key’: Alex Du Toit and the History of Continental Drift (2021)

unapi

This book examines the work of prominent South African geologist Alex Du Toit as a means of understanding the debate around continental drift both in segregation-era South Africa and internationally. It contextualises Du Toit’s work within a particularly formative period of South African science, from the paleoanthropological discoveries that sparked debates about the origins of humankind to Jan Smuts’ own theory of holism. Beyond South African scientific discoveries, the book sets Du Toit’s work against a backdrop of ideological struggles over space, both domestically in terms of segregation and nationalism, as well as internationally as South Africa sought to assert its position within the Commonwealth. These debates were embodied by Du Toit’s work on the theory of continental drift, which put Africa – and South Africa – at the centre geologically and geographically. The author also focuses on the divisions in geology caused by drift theory, tracing the vigorous intellectual debate and dissent indicative of the ideological milieu within which scientific thought is constructed. It traces the history of continental drift from its inception in the nineteenth century and later work of Alfred Wegener, which was both elaborated upon and substantiated by Du Toit. The study further focuses on Du Toit’s research on continental drift in South African and South America, and the geological, fossil and climatological evidence used to bolster this theory.

...More
Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB455924853/

Similar Citations

Article García Cruz, Cándido Manuel; (2003)
Más allá de la Geografía especulativa: Orígenes de la Deriva Continental (/isis/citation/CBB000410594/)

Book Mott T. Greene; (2015)
Alfred Wegener: Science, Exploration, and the Theory of Continental Drift (/isis/citation/CBB947952527/)

Article Buffetaut, Eric; (2003)
Continental Drift under the Third Reich (/isis/citation/CBB000610215/)

Book Mikanovskij, Evgenij Evgenjevič; IAnshin, Aleksandr Leonidovich; (2000)
Al'fred Vegener 1880--1930 (/isis/citation/CBB000358295/)

Chapter Grevsmühl, Sebastian Vincent; (2008)
Das modellierte Antlitz der Erde. Zur Geschichte der Modellierungsstrategien der Kontinentalverschiebung (/isis/citation/CBB001211728/)

Article David J. Galloway; (2008)
Austral Lichenology: 1690–2008 (/isis/citation/CBB541732590/)

Article Debus, Allen A.; (2006)
Re-Framing the Science in Jules Verne's “Journey to the Center of the Earth” (/isis/citation/CBB001030926/)

Article Tomari, Jiro; (2005)
The Concept of Geosynclines and Plate Tectonics in Japan (/isis/citation/CBB000630933/)

Book Dawson, Gowan; (2012)
Victorian Science and Literature (/isis/citation/CBB001251062/)

Book Clive Gamble; (2021)
Making Deep History: Zeal, Perseverance, and the Time Revolution of 1859 (/isis/citation/CBB209549346/)

Book Miller, Sally M.; (1999)
John Muir in historical perspective (/isis/citation/CBB000110616/)

Article Creer, Kenneth; Irving, Edward; (2012)
Testing Continental Drift: Constructing the First Palaeomagnetic Path of Polar Wander (1954) (/isis/citation/CBB001251735/)

Authors & Contributors
Martin Schneider
Bento Cavadas
Daniele Musumeci
Stefano Furlani
Xaba, Thokozani T.
Weber, Erik
Concepts
Plate tectonics and continental drift
Geology
Earth sciences
Medicine
Biographies
Paleoanthropology
Time Periods
19th century
20th century, early
20th century
21st century
20th century, late
18th century
Places
South Africa
Africa
South America
Germany
Greenland
New Zealand
Institutions
Yosemite National Park
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment