ABSTRACT
To unravel the secrets of nature requires the intuitive wisdom, deductive capacity and experimental ability of generations of scientists. The landmarks of discovery arise from the refined product of their labours. Sometimes research advances by great bounds as a theory is propounded and the many pieces appear momentarily to fall into place. More often it proceeds step by step with one man concentrating on a small fragment and making it his life’s work. The result of his research, and that of others like him, has often to await the entry of the theorist who takes all the parts and builds them into one grand scheme, the very nature of which may point to new lines of research. Study of fluvial and other geomorphic processes has proved no exception to this rule and as the work went forward the task of comprehension assumed increasing proportions.
