HARRY HESS, SEAFLOOR SPREADING, AND PALEOMAGNETISM

Harry Hess and seafloor spreading are forever linked. Hess developed the idea of seafloor spreading, first presenting his idea in December 1960 in a preprint entitled “Evolution of ocean basins.” It is also well-known that Hess was a fixist throughout most of his career. Less well-known is that he switched to mobilism approximately a year and a half before dating his preprint, and little-known is that he switched to mobilism because of its paleomagnetic support.