ABSTRACT
From time to time it is useful for practitioners to look back over the historical developments of their science. Lessons can be learnt from the past, otherwise ‘wheels’ can so easily be reinvented. Indeed, much of the pre-digital technical literature is at risk of being dismissed by today’s workers if it cannot be accessed at a desktop computer. With this in mind, John Mather, Emeritus Professor at the University of London, initiated, in 2001, the History of Hydrogeology Project with the objective of producing this volume. The project has taken much longer to fruit than was originally anticipated, but it has embraced two well attended international workshops, one held at the IAH Congress in Lisbon in 2007 and one at the IAH Congress held at Toyama the following year. The workshops helped to keep people informed how the Project was progressing and were also a means of attracting additional material. Two of the presentations from the workshops, neither of which fitted the geographical framework adopted in this volume, have already been published elsewhere.
