ABSTRACT
In writing our History of the Study of Landforms we have always been aware that there loomed ahead a precipice in the form of William Morris Davis. Our course, so far, has been beset by numerous pitfalls and obstacles many of which have proved exciting and hindering as the trail was unblazed and there were few major landmarks to guide us. Yet we knew where we wanted to go even if the details of the route demanded careful reconnaissance. But the fact is that Davis has proved to be a rock-wall that could be tackled only with modern equipment. In our ignorance we assumed that many Americans with psychological crampons had climbed the Davisian precipice, that a path already existed up which we could safely scale the heights to assess the summit panorama and the country ahead. Instead we found ourselves with numerous scattered writings, like tortuous paths up the scree at the foot of a rock-wall which had barely been reconnoitred. We had no option but to climb our Everest and write a biography of Davis. It seemed astonishing to us that whereas, for example, geologists have several books, many quite recent, on Lyell, geographers have no sizeable book on Davis. But we can assure the reader that Davis is the only man to whom in our history of landforms we would devote a whole volume.
