He was a German meteorologist and geophysicist who observed that the continents seemed to fit together like a jigsaw puzzle, particularly the east coast of South America and the west coast of Africa. He also noted similarities in fossils, rock formations, and climate patterns across continents that were now separated by vast oceans.

While his hypothesis was initially met with skepticism, it laid the groundwork for the modern theory of plate tectonics, which explains the movement of Earth's lithosphere and the processes that shape our planet.