HYDROLOGY 1.9 bonds between the ions. The relatively small size of the water molecule helps: Fig. 1.2.4d shows how water molecules cluster around sodium and chlorine atomsas they dissociate. Hydrogen bonds also cause water to have a high surface tension, which produces capillary rise in soils and causes rain to form into spherical droplets rather than into shapeless masses of particles. It is indeed fortunate that water is so abundant on the earth and that it possesses these unique physical properties; without them, life on earth would not exist. 1.3, DEVELOPMENT OF HYDROLOGY The origin and circulation of the waters of the earth has been a subject of speculation since ancient times, but the year 1850 might be regarded as marking the beginning of the development of methods in current use in hydrologic practice. In 1851, Mul- vaney™ first described the concept of the time of concentration that now forms the backbone of the rational method of runoff computation, and he also designed a primitive form of rain gauge that would record time-varying rainfall intensity during a storm. Five years later, Darcy® established the basic law of groundwater motion. During the following decades, knowledge gradually accumulated: In 1871 Saint- Venant® derived the equations of one-dimensional surface water flow, in 1891 Manning? developed his equation for open channel velocity, in 1908 the first water- shed level measurement of the hydrologic effects of land-use change was done at Wagon Wheel Gap, in 1911 Green and Ampt!® produced their infiltration model, and in 1925 Streeter and Phelps*! developed the dissolved oxygen sag curve for rivers. Figure 1.3.1 summarizes some significant contributions to the development of hydrologic knowledge from 1930 to 1980 under the classification of hydrology used in this handbook, namely, the hydrologic cycle, transport, statistics, and technology. Included in this table are discoveries of basic principles, such as the Theis equation in 1935; hydrologic computer models, such as HEC-1 in 1965; and books about hydrol- ogy, such as Meinzer’s Hydrology. In some cases, developments in related fields which have subsequently become important in hydrology are noted, such as Box- Jenkins time series analysis methods. The citations in Fig. 1.3.1 are keyed to the reference lists in this chapter and the other chapters of the handbook. Study of these references is a fruitful effort for the serious hydrologist because the original descrip- tion of a work often illuminates its fundamental assumptions and thinking more clearly than the concise statements of its results presented in later publications. The information presented in Fig. 1.3.1 is limited to the period 1930-1980 because it is difficult to assign a correct historical significance to more recent developments. In scanning Fig. 1.3.1, it can be seen that there has been an acceleration in the growth of hydrologic knowledge since about 1950, and of computer-related technol- ogy since about 1960. Hydrologic principles and working equations can be derived from the fundamental laws of physics, or they can result from the synthesis of field observations of a phenomenon. Once an adequate process description has been constructed, it is often incorporated into computer models whose parameters are determined using local data for each application. While much has been accom- plished, there is still a great deal that is unknown or uncertain about the functioning of hydrologic processes. And some of the existing knowledge of these processes has yet to be synthesized into a form in which it can be applied in a generalized fashion. Gradually clarifying these mists of uncertainty is the exciting challenge of hydrologic research, which leads in turn to improved hydrologic practice through the develop- ment of better methods and more precise parameter values.