Article ID: CBB989804689

From the contracting earth to continental drift: Wegener's influence on Portuguese and Spanish science textbooks through the twentieth century (2019)

unapi

Alfred Wegener's work on continental drift profoundly influenced the development of geology during the twentieth century. The main objective of this historical research is to explore how Wegener's hypothesis about the origin of continents and oceans influenced Portuguese and Spanish science textbooks published in the twentieth century. For this purpose, a qualitative method based on the Chevallard's concept of didactic transposition was used. The didactic transposition of the fundamentals of continental drift, including displacements forces and geographical, geophysical, geological, paleontological, biological, and paleoclimatic arguments used by Wegener to support this hypothesis, was studied in a comprehensive sample of twenty science textbooks published after the publication of Die Entstehung der Kontinente und Ozeane (Wegener 1915). The analysis of textbooks shows that the didactic transposition of continental drift was commonly present in Portuguese and Spanish textbooks beginning in the 1930s, although, with different degrees of development. Science textbooks since the 1950s presented the displacement forces of sial continental blocks proposed by Wegener, namely the centrifugal force of Earth's rotation and the attractive gravitational force that results from the interaction of the earth with the moon and sun. The geographical, geological, paleontological and biological arguments supporting continental drift were commonly addressed in many science textbooks, followed by the paleoclimatic arguments. The geophysical arguments were briefly addressed in only two textbooks. Many Portuguese and Spanish textbooks also presented critiques of Wegener's work, mainly focused on the lack of explanation for the origin and nature of forces that could move continents at the Earth's surface.

...More
Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB989804689/

Similar Citations

Article Bento Cavadas; (2021)
Plate tectonics in Portugese and Spanish science textbooks: From the 1960s to the 1980s (/isis/citation/CBB678809466/)

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

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/)

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

Article Català-Gorgues, Jesús Ignasi; Carneiro, Ana; (2010)
El projecte de la Carta Geològica d'Europa i l'establiment de relacions entre els serveis geològics d'Espanya i Portugal (/isis/citation/CBB001021873/)

Book Frankel, Henry R; (2012)
The Continental Drift Controversy (/isis/citation/CBB001450168/)

Book Suryakanthie Chetty; (2021)
‘Africa Forms the Key’: Alex Du Toit and the History of Continental Drift (/isis/citation/CBB455924853/)

Article Coode, Alan M.; (2011)
Part of the History of the Origin of Transform Faults (/isis/citation/CBB001232531/)

Book Oreskes, Naomi; (2002)
Plate Tectonics: An Insider's History of the Modern Theory of the Earth (/isis/citation/CBB000201617/)

Book Powell, James Lawrence; (2001)
Mysteries of Terra Firma: The Age and Evolution of the World (/isis/citation/CBB000101768/)

Article Oreskes, Naomi; (2013)
Earth Science: How Plate Techtonics Clicked (/isis/citation/CBB001320428/)

Authors & Contributors
Oreskes, Naomi
Bento Cavadas
Daniele Musumeci
Andrew Hopkins
Chetty, Suryakanthie
Stefano Furlani
Concepts
Plate tectonics and continental drift
Geology
Earth sciences
Physics
Geophysics
Historical geology; theory of the earth
Time Periods
20th century, early
20th century
20th century, late
19th century
Places
United States
Spain
Portugal
Germany
Greenland
South America
Comments

Be the first to comment!

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

Log in or register to comment