Charles Hapgood’s Path of the Pole refers to the invisible but measurable magnetic axis, which runs through the earth from the Arctic to the Antarctic, but is constantly changing course. His book attempts to link two widely held ideas about this pole and about the earth’s continents.
- Scientists now believe that the tips of this pole are not static. Over very long periods of time, its end points appear to move great distances over the earth.
- In addition, the idea that the continents are slowly drifting over the earth’s surface is accepted scientific dogma. In some locations, their movement has been measured in inches; in others, by feet.
Up until now, the explanation for this continental drift has been this: From deep within the earth’s molten center, enormous convection currents rise up underneath the continents and shove them along. This can be demonstrated by dropping a toothpick into a pan of 
water that is boiling very slowly. The toothpick will not remain in place. Instead, it gets shoved around as the heated water rises and carries the toothpick along its surface. The water then drops back down to the pan's bottom. The tiny stick will be moved again and again as it is intercepted by other surface water currents.The ongoing rupture along the Atlantic Ocean bottom has been charted both by photographs and with sonar mapping devices. The Americas are slowly moving away from the European continent. On the other hand, the collision of the continental plates deep within the Pacific Ocean have also been mapped.But Hapgood would not agree that convection currents are solely responsible for continental drift. His evidence comes from many sources, chiefly the comparing of layers of the earth’s crust from a variety of geographic locations around the earth. Both surface and subterranean samples are contrasted. Using hollow drills, scientists bore deep holes in the earth and under ocean bottoms to bring up their samples.
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