'Africa forms the key' : Alex du Toit and the history of continental drift / Suryakanthie Chetty.
Chetty, Suryakanthie, author.
2021
QE511.5 .C54 2021eb
Available Online

Linked e-resources

Linked Resource Online Access
Concurrent users Unlimited
Authorized users Authorized users
Document Delivery Supplied Can lend chapters, not whole ebooks

Details

Title 'Africa forms the key' : Alex du Toit and the history of continental drift / Suryakanthie Chetty.
Author Chetty, Suryakanthie, author.
ISBN 9783030527112 (electronic bk.)
3030527115 (electronic bk.)
9783030527105 (hbk.)
3030527107
DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52711-2
Published Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan, 2021.
Copyright ©2021
Language English
Description 1 online resource (xi, 271 pages : illustrations (black and white)).
Other Standard Identifiers 10.1007/978-3-030-52711-2 doi
Call Number QE511.5 .C54 2021eb
Dewey Decimal Classification 968.03
Summary This book examines the work of prominent South African geologist Alex Du Toit as a means of understanding the debate around continental drift both in segregation-era South Africa and internationally. It contextualises Du Toit's work within a particularly formative period of South African science, from the paleoanthropological discoveries that sparked debates about the origins of humankind to Jan Smuts' own theory of holism. Beyond South African scientific discoveries, the book sets Du Toit's work against a backdrop of ideological struggles over space, both domestically in terms of segregation and nationalism, as well as internationally as South Africa sought to assert its position within the Commonwealth. These debates were embodied by Du Toit's work on the theory of continental drift, which put Africa - and South Africa - at the centre geologically and geographically. The author also focuses on the divisions in geology caused by drift theory, tracing the vigorous intellectual debate and dissent indicative of the ideological milieu within which scientific thought is constructed. It traces the history of continental drift from its inception in the nineteenth century and later work of Alfred Wegener, which was both elaborated upon and substantiated by Du Toit. The study further focuses on Du Toit's research on continental drift in South African and South America, and the geological, fossil and climatological evidence used to bolster this theory. .
Note 1 'In the Beginning': Geology in South Africa and the Early Years of Alex Du Toit2 'A World in a Grain of Sand': A Brief History of Geology and the Origins of Continental Drift Theory3 'Bedrock': Geology and the Shaping of a Nation4 'On the Shoulders of Giants': Early Drift Theorists5 'Looking through... the Keyhole of Nature': Du Toit and Early Continental Drift6 'And Yet It Moves': Du Toit's South American Journey7 'The Cradle of Humankind': A Pivotal Decade for Science in South Africa8 'A Frozen History of the Past': Antarctica, Gondwana and an Unfulfilled Dream9 'Our Wandering Continents': Du Toit's Definitive Work, Controversy and Consensus10 'Pale Blue Dot': Conclusions.
Access Note Access limited to authorized users.
Digital File Characteristics text file PDF
Source of Description Description based on CIP data; resource not viewed.
Series Cambridge imperial and post-colonial studies series.
Available in Other Form Print version: 9783030527105
Linked Resources Online Access
Record Appears in Online Resources > Ebooks
All Resources
1 Introduction
2 In the Beginning...: Geology in South Africa and the Early Years of Alex Du Toit.-3 A World in a Grain of Sand: A Brief History of Geology and the Origins of Continental Drift Theory
4 Bedrock: Geology and the Shaping of a Nation
5 On the Shoulders of Giants: Early Drift Theorists
6 Looking Through ... the Keyhole of Nature: Du Toit and Early Continental Drift
7 And Yet It Moves...: Du Toit's South American Journey
8 The Cradle of Humankind: A Pivotal Decade for Science in South Africa
9 Our Wandering Continents: Du Toit's Definitive Work, Controversy and Consensus
10 A Frozen History of the Past: Antarctica, Gondwana and an Unfulfilled Dream
11 The Final Years
12 Pale Blue Dot: Conclusions.

Browse Subjects

Show more subjects...

Statistics

from
to
Export