The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.
(c)1998-2002; (c)2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
All other sections in this Literature Study Guide are owned and copyrighted by BookRags, Inc.
1880-1930
German geophysicist whose theory of continental drift preceeded the current understanding of plate tectonics. Born in Berlin, the son of an orphanage director, Wegener earned a doctorate in astronomy, and went on several harrowing expeditions to Greenland to study polar air circulation. While recovering from a World War II injury, Wegener studied the strange coincidences of identical plant and animal life existing on continents separated by oceans. He theorized the Earth had once consisted of a single land mass, which he called Pangaea (Greek for "all earth"), that broke into pieces some 200 million years ago. His "continental drift" theory was widely challenged at the time, but proved basically true after geophysicists established the idea of plate tectonics, several decades later.