The Plate Tectonics Revolution was the scientific and cultural change which developed from the acceptance of the plate tectonics theory. The event was a paradigm shift and scientific revolution. [1]
By 1967 most scientists in geology accepted the theory of plate tectonics. [2] The root of this was Alfred Wegener's 1912 publication of his theory of continental drift, which was a controversy in the field through the 1950s. [2] At that point scientists introduced new evidence in a new way, replacing the idea of continental drift with instead a theory of plate tectonics. [2] The acceptance of this theory brought scientific and cultural change which commentators called the "Plate Tectonics Revolution". [2]
Response
In 1975 a paper said that "plate tectonics" gained general acceptance in its field in 1968 and called that acceptance a revolution. [3]
One scientist said that the Plate Tectonics Revolution brought excitement among scientists in the field in the 1960s. [4]
Publications in generations after the event reflected on how the Plate Tectonics Revolution was an early example of data science. [5]
One commentator claimed that the plate tectonics theory became popular and established a revolution in culture even before scientists could confirm some of the claims for which evidence was lacking. [6]
There are claims that science in Russia was a significant contribution to the Plate Tectonics Revolution, but Western bias against Russia has blocked recognition of their contributions. [7]
List of revolutionaries
 |
- Émile Argand
- Alfred Wegener
- Roberto Mantovani
- Arthur Holmes
- Felix Andries Vening Meinesz
- Samuel Warren Carey
- Robert R. Coats
- Edward Bullard
- W. Jason Morgan
- John Tuzo Wilson
- J Harlen Bretz
- Marie Tharp
- Frank Bursley Taylor
- Victor Conrad
- Andrija Mohorovičić
- Dan McKenzie
References
- ^ Casadevall, Arturo; Fang, Ferric C. (1 March 2016). "Revolutionary Science". mBio. 7 (2): e00158–16. doi: 10.1128/mBio.00158-16. PMC 4810483. PMID 26933052.
- ^ a b c d Frankel, Henry (2009). "Plate Tectonics". The Cambridge History of Science. Cambridge University Press. pp. 383–394. doi: 10.1017/CHOL9780521572019.021. ISBN 9781139056007.
- ^ Dietz, Robert S. (March 1977). "Plate tectonics: A revolution in geology and geophysics". Tectonophysics. 38 (1–2): 1–6. Bibcode: 1977Tectp..38....1D. doi: 10.1016/0040-1951(77)90197-4.
- ^ Oliver, Jack (February 1991). "Seismology, the plate tectonics revolution, and making it happen again". Tectonophysics. 187 (1–3): 37–49. Bibcode: 1991Tectp.187...37O. doi: 10.1016/0040-1951(91)90411-K.
- ^ Morford, Stacy (24 May 2016). "The Plate Tectonics Revolution: It Was All About the Data". State of the Planet. The Earth Institute.
- ^ Le Pichon, Xavier (2013). "The "revolution" of Plate Tectonics in earth sciences and the relationship between science, reason, and truth" (PDF). Euresis Journal. 5 (summer): 109–124.
- ^ Khain, Victor E.; Ryabukhin, Anatoly G. (2002). "Russian geology and the plate tectonics revolution". Geological Society, London, Special Publications. 192 (1): 185–198. Bibcode: 2002GSLSP.192..185K. doi: 10.1144/GSL.SP.2002.192.01.09. S2CID 129112412.
Further reading
- Mareschal, Jean-Claude (1987). "Plate tectonics: Scientific revolution or scientific program?". Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union. 68 (20): 529. Bibcode: 1987EOSTr..68..529M. doi: 10.1029/EO068i020p00529-01.
- Hallam, A. (1974). A revolution in the earth sciences from continental drift to plate tectonics (Repr. ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-0198581451.
- Iseda, Tetsuji (December 1996). "Philosophical Interpretations of the Plate Tectonics Revolution". tiseda.sakura.ne.jp.