How did scientists initially react to Louis Agassiz's ice age theory?

The scientific community’s initial reaction to Louis Agassiz’s ice age theory was overwhelmingly skeptical, described as "glacial" in its coldness.1

When Agassiz first proposed in 1837 that a period of intense refrigeration had once covered Eurasia in ice, his peers were largely unconvinced. The prevailing scientific view at the time, held by diluvial geologists, attributed geological features like erratics and unstratified sediment to the biblical "Deluge" or massive water torrents. Even the renowned naturalist Alexander von Humboldt discouraged Agassiz from pursuing the topic, advising him to return to his studies of fossil fishes.1

Despite this resistance, Agassiz persisted by conducting intensive field research and publishing his findings in Études sur les glaciers in 1840, which provided evidence that Alpine glaciers had once been significantly more extensive. He subsequently traveled to the British Isles and North America to gather further geological proof to support his glacial doctrine.1