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GEOLOGIST

Alfred Wegener

1880 - 1930

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Alfred Lothar Wegener (; German: [ˈʔalfʁeːt ˈveːɡənɐ]; 1 November 1880 – November 1930) was a German climatologist, geologist, geophysicist, meteorologist, and polar researcher. During his lifetime he was primarily known for his achievements in meteorology and as a pioneer of polar research, but today he is most remembered as the originator of continental drift hypothesis by suggesting in 1912 that the continents are slowly drifting around the Earth (German: Kontinentalverschiebung). His hypothesis was not accepted by mainstream geology until the 1950s, when numerous discoveries such as palaeomagnetism provided strong support for continental drift, and thereby a substantial basis for today's model of plate tectonics. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Alfred Wegener has received more than 2,448,948 page views. His biography is available in 72 different languages on Wikipedia. Alfred Wegener is the most popular geologist, the 102nd most popular biography from Germany (up from 109th in 2019) and the most popular German Geologist.

Alfred Wegener is most famous for his theory of continental drift.

Memorability Metrics

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  • 75.26

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 72

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 11.94

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.19

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

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Among GEOLOGISTS

Among geologists, Alfred Wegener ranks 1 out of 59. After him are Charles Francis Richter, Nicolas Steno, Charles Lyell, Mary Anning, Inge Lehmann, Milutin Milanković, James Hutton, Andrija Mohorovičić, Friedrich Mohs, Eduard Suess, and Francis Beaufort.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1880, Alfred Wegener ranks 2. Before him is Helen Keller. After him are Douglas MacArthur, Guillaume Apollinaire, Fedor von Bock, Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, Oswald Spengler, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Robert Musil, George Marshall, Ludwig Beck, and Franz Marc. Among people deceased in 1930, Alfred Wegener ranks 2. Before him is Arthur Conan Doyle. After him are Fridtjof Nansen, Ilya Repin, Vladimir Mayakovsky, William Howard Taft, Zewditu, Allvar Gullstrand, Cosima Wagner, Miguel Primo de Rivera, Christiaan Eijkman, and Victoria of Baden.

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Others Deceased in 1930

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In Germany

Among people born in Germany, Alfred Wegener ranks 102 out of 6,142. Before him are William Herschel (1738), Theodor Mommsen (1817), Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor (1050), Walter Gropius (1883), Ernst Haeckel (1834), and Nicholas of Cusa (1401). After him are Clara Schumann (1819), Carl von Clausewitz (1780), Carl Maria von Weber (1786), Nikolaus Otto (1832), Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1368), and Willy Brandt (1913).

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Among GEOLOGISTS In Germany

Among geologists born in Germany, Alfred Wegener ranks 1. After him are Friedrich Mohs (1773), Beno Gutenberg (1889), Christian Leopold von Buch (1774), Georg Amadeus Carl Friedrich Naumann (1797), Julius von Haast (1822), Ferdinand Zirkel (1838), and Oskar Lenz (1848).

German born Geologists

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