Hi All. Alfred Wegener was a meteorologist and an astronomer. He was well respected in all the many fields to which he applied his undoubted talents - with the exception of his bizarre theory of "Continental Drift", which won him few friends and no respect.

As a non-geologist, Wegener's trespass into the discipline was not welcomed. A supporter later explained, of his problems in gaining a hearing: “To work on subjects which fall outside the traditionally defined bounds of a science naturally exposes one to being regarded with mistrust". Throughout his career he was an outsider in the field; and although it gave him the ability to see beyond the entrenched ideas of the science, it also opened him to mistrust and criticism. At that time, scientists kept well within the bounds of their own specialties.

How much further would we be today had the energies used to criticize him been used to see if there was something to what he claimed? Today Alfred Wegener is credited for the Theory of Continental Drift but he is also known as a person who stepped out of his field. He refused to stay in the box.

Does science still have that mentality today? In many ways it does. It’s just not as blatant as it was at one time.

Was Alfred Wegener that much smarter then others, or was it that they just refused to accept what he had to say, because they didn’t think it was possible or didn’t understand it? Could it have been that they feared that what they knew and what they were telling others might not be the truth, as they knew it? Were they afraid of the truth? Are they still afraid of it? Take Care…Don in creepy town

• Alfred Wegner