People only figured out the mechanics of plate tectonics relatively recently. However, they started noticing that the continents looked like they had fit together as soon as they had accurate maps to look at. In the late 1500's

Abraham Ortelius in his work Thesaurus Geographicus … suggested that the Americas were "torn away from Europe and Africa … by earthquakes and floods" and went on to say: "The vestiges of the rupture reveal themselves, if someone brings forward a map of the world and considers carefully the coasts of the three [continents]."

Wikipedia link.

Alfred Wagner proposed the idea of plate tectonics decades before this, citing the fit of the continents, the same species of plants and animals on continents separated by ocean, and glacial striations as evidence. The problem was that no one knew HOW the plates separated.

I remember the day I realized that Africa and South America fit together when looking at a paper atlas. It felt like I had just discovered something incredible. I guess I had, but I wasn't the first. :-)

Darwin believed one of the more popular explanations of his time: expanding Earth theory. Basically, the planet was like an expanding dough ball. It decently explained why things looked like they fit together. Darwin even went out to Patagonia to investigate some cliffs, and basically "confirmed" the theory.

I'm really bothered by this line of thinking.

Just because something "looks" like it is a certain way doesn't mean it is. For anything to be considered fact there needs to be evidence. The hypothesis that the Earth may have plate tectonics existed decades before it became fact.

This leads people to make connections between completely unrelated things, despite scientists, or professionals working in fields of science (i.e. doctors), saying, and often proving, there is none.

Using our understanding of the fundamental elements and atomic particles, we can create weapons capable of destroying the entire earth.

How was earth made though?

Fuck, we don't know. We'll stick with God.

It also took a climatologist or something and nobody believed him. Probably because a lot of science stubbornly gravitated around religious stupidity of some kind.

wasnt it more like 1920s? so "honey take some heroin for your cough from coal mining"

bro, you dont need to post screenshots of twitter. just steal the post, no one cares.

This is a story I am going to repeat forever.

When I was taking one of my science classes for my major our professor mentioned that she is pretty convinced that she was the last holdout geologist for this theory. So not only had this been discovered in recent history it was controversial in recent history.

Makes me wonder what other "obvious things" we don't know yet