How Cartographer Marie Tharp Helped Scientists Understand Continental Drift and Plate Tectonics

An animated video from The Royal Institution explains how cartographer Marie Tharp helped scientists better understand continental drift and plate tectonics. The theories were not taken seriously when they were first presented, but Tharp’s work helped provide the evidence needed for them to gain acceptance in the scientific community.

Continental drift is common knowledge now, but when the idea was first proposed it was revolutionary. Helen Czerski tells the story of how the maps of one of history’s finest cartographers shifted our view of the planet.