Earth-Science Reviews 67 (2004) 55 – 89

www.elsevier.com/locate/earscirev

The quantification of geology: from abacus to Pentium

A chronicle of people, places, and phenomena
Daniel F. Merriam *
Kansas Geological Survey, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66047, USA

Received 17 September 2003; accepted 17 February 2004

Abstract

The geological profession has only recently become numerically literate but highly so in a relatively short time. Mathematics
was applied to geological problems mostly in the fields of hydrology, engineering geology, and geophysics until the past few
decades. Statistics were used by sedimentologists and paleontologists to describe populations with some univariate, bivariate,
and multivariate statistics used by a few avant garde workers. Geocomputing really started in the 1960s but the slow start
became an avalanche in the 1980s with the introduction of microcomputer [personal computer (PC)]. The trend towards
increasing quantification of the discipline is noticeable, and in recent years, this trend has been accelerating. There is seemingly
no limit to the information and communication revolution.
D 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Computers; Statistics; Mathematics; Numerical geology

1. Introduction fuzzy, one of the first straightforward publications of

The quantitative approach leads in most situations
to a deepened insight into a problem. The Age of
Zap, Richard A. Reyment (1974)
The roots of quantitative geology are deep—deeper
than previously acknowledged (Merriam, 1981a;
Howarth, 2001). Early workers used numbers to
describe and analyze geological conditions as early
as the 17th Century. Agricola (1556) reported the use
of trigonometry in mining surveying in his De Re
Metallica. Numerical methods were also used in
mapping and navigation. Thus, although the begin-
nings of quantitative studies in geology per se are
* Fax: +1-785-864-5317.
E-mail address: dmerriam@kgs.ku.edu (D.F. Merriam).
importance was Perraults’ (1674) book that quantita-
tively related rainfall to runoff. It is true, however, that
practitioners of quantitative methods were few and
unfortunately had little impact on mainstream geology
until much later. From this modest beginning, quan-
titative geology has grown to where it is today; it is
rare now to read a scientific geological paper with no
numerical computations nor computer processing.
Much of modern geology, such as plate tectonics,
seismic tomography, planetary geology, geostatis-
tiques, remote sensing, geologic simulation, etc.,
would not be feasible without dependence on numer-
ical methods and computers.
. . .when you can measure what you are speaking
about and express it in numbers you know
something about it; but when you cannot measure

0012-8252/$ - see front matter D 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2004.02.002
56 D.F. Merriam / Earth-Science Reviews 67 (2004) 55–89
it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your
knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind.
Electrical Units of Measurement, Sir William
Thomson (Lord Kelvin) (1883)
Geology has been mainly a descriptive, historical
science and many of the concepts and features would
be difficult to describe in precise terms (numbers).
Hubbert (1974) questioned ‘Is Being Quantitative
Sufficient?’ and cited numerous examples of advances
in geology made by reasoning (nonquantitative) in-
cluding the understanding of discordant strata, conti-
nental glaciation, and the duration of geologic time.
He further cautioned (p. 34) ‘‘. . .that the application
of quantitative methods. . .do not necessarily lead to
valid results,’’ a comment cogent yet today.
. . .if we are not careful we may easily become
victims of the fallacy that conclusions arrived at in
papers heavily laden with mathematical equations
and numerical data, or with computer results, have,
ipso facto, a higher degree of reliability than those
arrived at by more primitive methods. Is Being
Quantitative Sufficient, M. King Hubbert (1974)
Because the vast majority of archival data in the
geological sciences are of a historic and nonquantita-
tive nature, much will remain ‘lost’; the cost of
converting this enormous amount of data would be
staggering and perhaps would be of doubtful value
anyway. As data capture, storage, and manipulation
became easier, and technology became available to
handle the historical record, the situation has changed,
and, indeed, in the past decade, it has. As noted by
Wadge (1993), ‘‘As professional geologists in the
1990s, we are awash with information.’’ The devel-
opment in data capture, manipulation, storage, and
display has been termed geoinformatics—a term re-
cently coined by the Japanese.1
Geologists were slow to adopt, and adapt to,
quantitative approaches. That attitude rapidly
1
‘Geoinformatics’ (geology and informatics) apparently was
used in the first circular (1990) for the International Geological
Congress (IGC) in Kyoto. The Japanese Society of Geoinformatics
not only includes Information Technology (IT) in the definition but
also the techniques used in solving geological problems (Kaichiro
Yamamoto, written communication, 2002).
changed as the ever-present microcomputer pervaded
the scene. It is perhaps easy to see why early
workers shunned the use of quantitative descriptions
and computer methods. There was (1) a lack of
support technology, (2) the subject of geology has
a strong background in the arts (see Agterberg,
1974), and (3) methods were lacking for data han-
dling and analysis. These constraints severely limited
the options and possibilities even if the data were in
numeric form and the investigator had a quantitative
bent; the analyses were limited to available mathe-
matical techniques.
Now, of course, the microcomputer is indispens-
able. Its serves as a secretary in keeping a calendar,
word processor (what used to be termed typing), and
doing correspondence for any and all occasions. It
handles spelling checks, dictionary use, and is a
thesaurus. It is a draftsman—just about any type of
graphics can be accomplished in the way of illustra-
tions and in color. It is a technician, a resident
statistician, and mathematician doing calculations,
and a bookkeeper, maintaining records. It can access
on-line databases anywhere in the world and supply
almost immediately an infinite amount of data. It can
do library work by accessing bibliographic databases
and do reference searches. It serves as a communica-
tion device via e-mail and fax, allowing correspon-
dence with other workers all over the world (see
Leblanc, 1993 for a summary on the use of computers
in writing and communication). What a labor- and
time-saving device, and it is limited essentially only
by the inventiveness of the user!
By the mid-20th Century, practitioners were using
mathematics to solve geological problems, especially
in the fields of geohydrology (Matalas, 1969), geo-
physics (Landsberg, 1958), geochemistry (Krauskopf,
1967), structural geology (Whitten, 1966), mineralogy
(Dana, 1932), and engineering geology (Johnson,
1970). In the Preface to their book on Statistical
Analysis in the Geological Sciences, Miller and Kahn
(1962) give a brief history on the application of
statistics in the earth sciences and divide the history
into three periods: 1890 to 1930s; 1930s to WWII,
and post-WWII (to the early 1960s). The development
of the field of quantitative geology, which includes
mathematics and statistics applied to geological prob-
lems, has progressed through several phases to today’s
modern, integrated state where the new generation of
 D.F. Merriam / Earth-Science Reviews 67 (2004) 55–89 57

investigators have at their fingertips the tremendous,

in fact, almost unlimited, amount of brain power
through the use of the computer.

People who are thinking about what they are doing

are using computers. P.C. Hammer (personal
communication, 1966)

The introduction of computers that ushered in the

space age also brought about a new set of problems,
as with the introduction of any new technology. There
has been an invasion of privacy, many trades and
practices have been declared obsolete and redundant,
and an impersonal touch has been added to an ever-
increasing complex society. There is a tendency to
regard any database on-line as high quality, but
depending on the source, this may or may not be
true. Computer viruses and worms also have added
another dimension to the new way of life. The way in
which geologists think and accomplish things have
radically changed as traditional approaches have been
altered as the science transforms from a qualitatively Fig. 1. Graph of computer power as viewed in Sejnowski’s (1987)
to quantitatively oriented one. review of Computing and Connections by W.D. Hillis. Speed
Since the end of the last millennium, the computer increases as log per second through time. CM is Connection
Machine and GF-11 is IBM experimental machine. As noted by this
revolution has marched on. As predicted a decade illustration and later by Normile (2001), limits to increase computer
ago, computers have gotten yet smaller in size, larger power may be near or not near depending (Lundstrom, 2003).
in capacity, and faster in operation than ever imag-
ined2 (Fig. 1). It is noted that the speed of computers
has increased by a factor of about 1 million, whereas based on the technology of electronics and material
the cost has decreased by a factor of about 20,000. science—we must make the best of it. This commu-
Supercomputers now can calculate at a speed of about nication or information revolution is taking place as a
12.3 trillion calculations/s. result of the computer, especially the microcomputer
With the introduction of Pentium 4 processor, the or as it is affectionately known—the personal com-
supercomputer (workstation) is now on your desktop, puter (PC).
and with the Internet connections, the world is at your Chronicled here then is the story of the beginnings
fingertips. One of the fears (if there is one) is that a of part of that revolution in one branch of science—
generation of geologists now are dependent on data- geology—for according to the old adage, those who
bases of perhaps questionable quality or at least do not know history are destined to repeat it.
without the user’s verification. No longer does the
geoscientist necessarily collect his/her own data, but
can search the net for ‘suitable’ data sets. Neverthe- 2. Background and history
less, the Information Age is here and the revolution is
There have been several major conceptual revo-
2
lutions in geology that accompanied or followed
The limits of technology, however, may be close (Normile, technological advances of the time, allowing for
2001). According to Moore’s Law (the doubling of the number of
transistors on a chip every 18 months with an increase in
rapid developments of science. The first revolution
performance and a corresponding decrease in price), this limit was the result of Copernicus’ discovery that the Sun,
could be reached as early as 2014, or will it? (Lundstrom, 2003). not the Earth, was the center of the solar system. The
58 D.F. Merriam / Earth-Science Reviews 67 (2004) 55–89
second from the work of James Hutton and Charles
Lyell, founders of modern geology, in their elucida-
tion of time and processes (‘no vestiges of a begin-
ning and no prospect of an end’; and ‘the present is
the key to the past,’ uniformitarianism). The third
was Darwin’s revelation of man’s place; the fourth
was the integrated theory of plate tectonics, and the
fifth?
Many of the conceptual revolutions were depen-
dent on advances in technology, such as the wheel
(Mechanized Age), compass (Exploration Age), tele-
scope (Discovery Age), steam engine (Industrial Rev-
olution), and computer (Information Age), which
allowed quantum leaps in changes. Invention of the
compass allowed exploration of the globe and recog-
nition of the world’s geography (Aczel, 2001). In the
17th Century, Galileo (1564 – 1642) and Johannes
Keppler (1571 –1630) utilized the telescope, invented
in the previous century, to make observations that led
to the verification of Copernicus’ (1473 – 1543) ideas.
Invention and development of the steam engine by
James Watts (1736 –1819) in the later part of the 17th
and early part of the 18th Century allowed the
massive changes in manufacturing and transportation
in the 19th Century, which was instrumental in the
creation of leisure time so necessary for scientific
pursuits. The computer, which dates from Charles
Babbages’ work in the 19th Century, allows the
massive digestion of data and information on a
worldwide basis. Each subsequent advance was built
on the previous one(s) and only time will tell what
good will be wrought from the information revolution
but the possibilities seem unlimited.
[The] computer [is] one of the very most important
mathematical events of all time. Historiography: a
Perspective for Computer Scientists, K.O. May
(1980)
Howarth (2002) has documented in detail the
history of importance of graphic displays from the
hand-drawn illustrations of the early 1800s to the
intensive application of computers to the design and
presentation of illustrations today. Included in his
coverage are maps, graphs, scatterplots, diagrams,
bar charts, and pie diagrams, as well as a description
of statistical thinking, mathematical modeling, and
geostatistiques, all in relation to the utilization of the
all-powerful computer. This history gives evidence of
major technological and conceptional advances and
one reason for the rapid acceptance and adoption of
the computer and computer methods by the geological
community.
The ability to acquire, manipulate, and analyze
massive amounts of data facilitated the acceptance
of plate tectonics in a matter of just a few years. In
each instance, the technological product was an ex-
tension of a human faculty—the compass: orientation;
the telescope: sight; the steam engine: muscle; and the
computer: the mind. The power of the computer was
recognized early by many and best said by P.C.
Hammer.
A computer is an intelligence amplifier. P.C.
Hammer (personal communication, 1966)
How prophetic!
The use of computers obviously is linked closely
with developments and availability of hardware and
software. The dawn of the computer age in geology
usually is dated as starting from the publication in
1958 of a geologically oriented computer program in
a recognized journal by W.C. Krumbein (1902 – 1979)
Father of Computer Geology and his coworker, L.L.
Sloss (1913 – 1996) (Table 1). Advances in many
aspects of geology since that time have been depen-
dent on utilization of computers.
The origins of modern geology and the computer
both date back to the early part of the 19th Century
where an amazing group of far-sighted scientists
lived in London. Included in this group was Charles
Lyell (geology), Charles Babbage (mathematics),
Charles Darwin (biology), Humphrey Davy and
Notes to Table 1:
IAMG: International Association for Mathematical Geology.
IUGS: International Union of Geological Sciences.
AAPG: American Association of Petroleum Geologists.
MGUS: Mathematical Geologists of the United States.
COGS: Computer-Oriented Geologists Society.
SEPM: Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists.
COGEODATA: Committee on Storage, Automatic Processing, and
Retrieval of Geologic Data.
IGC: International Geological Congress.
KGS: Kansas Geological Survey.
C&G: Computers & Geosciences.
Sources: Merriam (1975a,b, 1980).
 D.F. Merriam / Earth-Science Reviews 67 (2004) 55–89 59

Table 1 Table 1 (continued )

Important events in computer applications in geology (adapted from 1970 SEPM Computer Technology Group
Merriam, 1975a,b, 1980) First fourth-generation machines utilizing VM
1642 Blaise Pascal devised a calculating machine More than 500 papers published on computer
1694 Leibniz’s machine to multiply and divide applications in geology
1804 Jacquard loom used punched cards 1971 First Geocom Program published (successor to KGS
1812 Charles Babbage gets the idea of calculating machines Computer Contributions and later merged with C&G)
1822 First working model of Babbage’s Difference Engine 1972 Syracuse University establishes a series of
1834 Babbage starts work on his Analytical Engine Geochautauquas
1842 Ada Augusta ‘writes’ the first program 1973 GeoRef goes online on SDC ORBIT
1890 Punched-card system developed by Herman Hollerith First release in a series ‘Informatique Geologique,’ a
1941 Z3, first electronic computer new section of ‘Sciences de la Terre’
1943 Colossus, the first programmable electronic computer 1975 The first issue of ‘Computers & Geosciences’ sponsored
1944 Mark 1, the decimal electromechanical calculator put by IAMG
into operation at Harvard Indiana Geological Survey publishes first ‘Geophysical
1945 John von Neumann’s idea of stored memory Computer Programs’
1946 ENIAC, built at the University of Pennsylvania, the first 1976 Pergamon’s book series on ‘Computers and Geology’
large, general-purpose electronic computer 1977 The Apple II microcomputer
1949 EDSAC, the first stored-program, digital computer 1978 First year more than 1000 papers on computer
1951 UNIVAC, the first commercial computer applications in geology reported
1952 Digital plotters introduced 1979 Supercomputers, Cray-1, Cyber 205, and BSP are
1953 First FORTRAN compiler written available
1954 IBM 650, the first mass-produced computer Word-processing software and spreadsheets introduced
1958 W.C. Krumbein and L.L. Sloss publish the first 1981 MGUS holds their first meeting
geologically oriented computer program in a major Announcement of fifth-generation computers with AI
geological journal functions
1961 Transistorized second-generation computers introduced The IBM PC microcomputer introduced
Establishment of GeoRef 1982 ‘Computer Methods in the Geosciences,’ a VNR book
Arizona’s ‘Computer Applications in the Mineral series
Industries’ 1983 COGS formed in Denver
1963 Announcement of third-generation microcircuit Denver GeoTech83 sponsored by COGS
computers Lotus 1 – 2 – 3 spreadsheet software introduced
Kansas Geological Survey ‘Special Distribution 1984 Apple introduces the Macintosh with its graphic-based
Publications’ operating system
1964 More than 100 papers on computer applications in 1985 ‘Geobyte,’ a new publication by AAPG
geology COGS membership surpasses 1000
BASIC introduced 1986 BITNET comes into general use
Time-sharing successfully used at Dartmouth University 1987 IAMG inaugurates a memoir series
1966 Kansas Geological Survey ‘Computer Contributions’ 1988 SEPM forms a Computer Applications Committee
Kansas’ ‘Computer Applications in the Earth Sciences’ First geological oriented paper using a supercomputer
Colloquia FAX come into general use
AAPG appoints an associate editor for computer 1989 The i486 chip is introduced
applications First geological computer program published on softstrip
1967 AAPG Committee on Storage, Automatic Processing, 1990 Meta-analysis becomes available
and Retrieval of Geologic Data formed (later the COGS ‘Computer Contributions’ merged with
Committee on Computer Applications) ‘Computers & Geosciences’
1968 COGEODATA (IUGS) formed SEPM introduces its ‘Computer Contribution’ series
IAMG founded in Prague at the XXIII IGC Microsoft 3.0 ‘Windows’ software unveiled
‘Journal of Mathematical Geology’ of IAMG 1991 The super supercomputer, Touchstone Delta, is installed
inaugurated 1992 Geobyte suspends publication
‘Geocom Bulletin’ published Palmtop systems generally available
USGS starts a ‘Computer Contribution’ series AAPG announces the ‘Computer Applications in
‘Computer Applications in the Earth Sciences,’ a book Geology’ series
series initiated by Plenum Press (New York) 1993 The Pentium chip is introduced
1969 First issue of ‘Journal of Mathematical Geology,’ The IAMG celebrates its 25th Silver Anniversary in
sponsored by the IAMG Prague
60 D.F. Merriam / Earth-Science Reviews 67 (2004) 55–89

Michael Faraday (chemistry), and John Herschel
(astronomy). These men, following on the Scientific
Revolution of the 18th Century, took an active part
in the Industrial Revolution and contributed to a
scientific golden age laying the foundations for
modern science.
Sir Charles Lyell (1797 – 1875), formulator of the
Principle of Uniformitarianism, and one of the first to
use statistics in geology, and Charles Babbage (1791 –
1871), mathematician and creator of the Difference
and Analytical Engines, were good friends (Fig. 2).
They were acquainted professionally through the
Royal Society and the Geological Society of London
and, in addition, entertained each other and were
entertained by mutual friends. It is likely that they
shared ideas and problems of work as both were

Fig. 2. (Upper) Babbage’s Analytical Engine and (lower) punched cards used with the ‘computer’ (photo from British National Museum in
London).
 D.F. Merriam / Earth-Science Reviews 67 (2004) 55–89
ingenious and inquisitive researchers. Although
Lyell’s work forms much of the basis for modern
geology and he was recognized for his contributions,
Babbage’s calculating machines were destined for
failure for lack of at-the-time-technology and, there-
fore, he was not given due recognition in his time
(Merriam, 1983).
Not much happened in the next 100 years from this
modest beginning. Ada Augusta, Lady Lovelace and
daughter of Lord Byron, ‘wrote’ the first computer
program, which was a series of steps to compute
Bernoulli numbers using Babbage’s Analytical En-
gine. This program was patterned after the series of
card instructions used to control the weaving patterns
on Jacquard looms. Later, at the turn of the 20th
Century, Herman Hollerith at the U.S. Census Bureau
utilized the idea of punch cards for tabulating census
data (Fig. 2). Punch cards also were used in precom-
puter days for routinely sorting bibliographic and
other large data sets; it is not surprising then that
punch cards were used as input/output (I/O) for the
first computers.
There is a definite lack of quantitatively oriented
publications in the early days and only a few
applications between 1830 and 1958 can be cited
from the literature. Some applications of trigonome-
try and geometry were made in crystallography and
computations made on age determinations and heat
Fig. 3. Stages of development of quantitative geology, 1650 – 1995.
61
flow in the Earth. Statistics were applied to sedi-
mentological and paleontological problems (Cubitt
and Henley, 1978). Geophysicists, geochemists, en-
gineering geologists, and hydrologists applied math-
ematics in solving their problems. Observations and
data had been collected for 100 years and the
numerical data was processed with abaci, slide rules,
and calculators. Introduction of the computer ushered
in the automated era where complex problems could
be solved easily and quickly, large amounts of data
manipulated, and data acquisition was automated; it
was the harbinger of the development of French
geostatistiques, applications of sophisticated techni-
ques to geological problems, use of large realistic
data sets, and development of simulation and model
studies, especially those involving time (Merriam,
1981a).
As with any history, this story is best told through
individuals and their contributions. The story is punc-
tuated into chapters by an event that changed the
direction or acceleration of the story. As with most
stories, it starts slowly and gains momentum so that
events happen more frequently and are more drastic
with the passage of time (Fig. 3). It may be that this
acceleration is only perceived by the recentness and
quickness of the passage of time, such as the Doppler
effect, but, on the other hand, it maybe real and
actually accelerating.
62 D.F. Merriam / Earth-Science Reviews 67 (2004) 55–89

3. Quantitative geology Table 3

Selected papers on mathematics and statistics in geology
The genuine goal of scientific computation in 1674 Pierre Perrault De l’Origine des Fontaines
1757 M. Adanson Histoire Naturelle du Senegal. . .
geology should be insight, not numbers. Geology
1762 Paola Frisi A Treatise on the Rivers and
and Mathematics, H. Schaeben (1988) Torrents. . .
1801 Abbe Hauy Traite de Mineralogie,
As with any multidisciplinary science, quantitative Tome Premier
geology is the result of an interplay of several spe- 1802 John Playfair Illustrations of the Huttonian
Theory. . .
cialties and it is difficult, if not impossible, to separate
1824 William General Method of Calculating
them. First, there were the contributions of mathema- Whewell the Angles Made by Any
ticians, followed by those of the statisticians after the Planes of Crystals. . .
development of the subject (Tables 2 and 3). These 1830 – 1833 Charles Principles of Geology, 3 volumes
methods were enhanced and furthered by computer Lyell
1832 R. Everest A Quantitative Study of
scientists in the mid-1950s and beyond. This symbi-
Stream Transportation
otic relationship between mathematicians, statisti- 1837 James D. A System of Mineralogy With
cians, computer scientists, and geologists has Dana an Appendix. . .
resulted in major advances in the earth sciences in 1846 Samuel On the Laws of Equilibrium
the past four decades with promised exciting discov- Haughton and Motion of Solids and
Fluid Bodies
eries yet to come (Fig. 4).
1848 M.A. Delesse Procede Mecanique pour
There has been a discussion of the definition of Determiner al Composition
mathematical geology or geomathematics. The suc- des Roches
cessful application of mathematics in geology via 1870 J. Clerk On Hills and Dales
computer applications in the 1960s rivals the de- Maxwell
1885 T.M. Reade The Importance of Solution
velopment of geophysics in the 1940s and geo-
as a Factor in Erosion
chemistry in the 1950s. Again, the practical (and 1895 K. Pearson Contributions to the Mathematical
successful) applications in numerical exploration Theory of Evolution
and exploitation was foremost in promoting interest 1908 H.C. Sorby On the Application of
in, and development of, the subject (Merriam, Quantitative Methods to the
Study of the Structure and
History of Rocks
1909 J. Joly Radioactivity and Geology
1914 J.A. Udden Mechanical Composition of
Table 2 Clastic Sediments
Mathematicians who contributed to geology 1921 W. Penck Morphologische Analyse
Simon Stevin Belgian systematic studies of agents 1930 A.E. Trueman Results of Some Recent
(1548 – 1620) effecting changes on the Statistical Investigations of
Earth’s surface Invertebrate Fossils
Gottfried Leibnitz German physical properties of the Earth 1935 C. Eisenhart A Test for the Significance
(1646 – 1716) of Lithological Variation
John Playfair Scot computing dips to project at 1936 William C. Application of Logarithmic
(1748 – 1819) depth; application of calculus Krumbein Moments to Size Frequency
to stream transport problems Distributions in Sediments
Pierre de Laplace French planetary system calculations 1941 A.N. The Lognormal Law of
(1749 – 1847) Kolmogorov Distribution of Particle Sizes....
Charles Babbage English heat flow and competency of 1948 Benjamin H. First of Three Studies in
(1790 – 1871) the Earth’s crust Burma Quantitative Paleontology, II
John Henry Pratt English geodetic surveys in the 1958 John C. Petrographical Investigations
(1811 – 1871) Himalaya Mountains Griffiths of the Salt Wash Sediments
Charles S. Peirce American geodetic and geophysics of the 1958 W.C. Krumbein/ High-Speed Digital Computers
(1839 – 1914) Earth L.L. Sloss in Stratigraphic and Facies
Karl Pearson English statistical principles applied to Analysis
(1857 – 1936) geology
 D.F. Merriam / Earth-Science Reviews 67 (2004) 55–89 63

Fig. 4. Tree of quantification showing some names of those involved early with interrelations of mathematics, statistics, and computer science.
64 D.F. Merriam / Earth-Science Reviews 67 (2004) 55–89
1982). Just as geostatistics can be defined as
statistics applied to geology (Bates and Jackson,
1980), geomathematics can be simply defined as
mathematics applied to geology. Some would even
say that geomathematics is what geomathematicians
do. More formal definitions include those by Vis-
telius (1967):
Mathematical geology [has] posed as its goal the
elucidation and solution of those problems in
geology that require the development of specific
mathematical methods.
and, again, by Vistelius (1968):
Mathematical geology is the scientific discipline
which deals with the establishment of mathemat-
ical models of geological processes; geological
processes are classified according to the type of
stochastic processes that—with the fundamental
objective of investigating geology with mathemat-
ics—exhibit probability distribution functions with
the necessary values chosen appropriately. All
other applications of mathematics to geology,
although they may have practical importance, are
special cases or particular instances of solutions to
problems that use mathematics in geology or
geomathematics.
and Agterberg (1974):
Geomathematics, in its broadest sense, includes all
applications of mathematics to studies of the
earth’s crust.
and in the Glossary of Geology (Gary et al., 1972),
both terms are defined the same:
Mathematics as applied to geology.
but in the 2nd edition (Bates and Jackson, 1980), they
are slightly different:
Geomathematics: All applications of mathematics
to studies of the Earth’s crust. Mathematical
Geology: Mathematics as applied to geology.
and in the 3rd and 4th editions of the Glossary
(Bates and Jackson, 1987; Jackson, 1997), the
definitions are essentially the same again but have
been expanded to:
Geomathematics: All applications of mathematics
to studies of the Earth’s crust. Mathematical
Geology: Mathematics, especially statistics and
probability theory, as applied to geology.
The simplest definition may be the best and most
descriptive.
It has been proposed that geomathematics be
recognized as a scientific discipline in its own right
with a status and importance equal to the other
interdisciplinary subjects of geophysics, geochemis-
try, paleobiology, engineering geology, etc. (Merriam,
1982). However, much of the subject has been incor-
porated now into mainstream geology, and thus con-
sidered a stand-alone subject by only a few, although
there are many corollaries of geomathematics (sensu
stricto) with the other subdisciplines. This is probably
because the subject (when analyzed in the broadest
sense) is basic and is simply the use of mathematics to
solve geological problems.
It is unclear who first used the hybrid term geo-
mathematics, but according to Hatten Yoder (written
communication, 2000), the term was first used in
1941, although this could not be confirmed. It was
used, however, by Rasmussen (1952) in a study of
groundwater reservoirs; the other hybrid names came
earlier—geophysics (1834), geochemistry (1838), and
geobiology (1939). Mathematical geology was the
name preferred by the organizing committee for the
International Association for Mathematical Geology
(IAMG) in 1968, largely at the insistence of Andrew
Vistelius (Merriam, 1978, 2001).
The quantification of geology that has taken place
in several stages, which have been punctuated by
certain events and certain persons, are given in Table
4 and relationships are shown in Fig. 4.
3.1. Origins Stage (1650 –1833)
Because some aspects of mathematical applica-
tions to geological problems have been with us for a
long time, it is difficult to pinpoint the beginnings of
quantitative geology. For example, in (1802), John
Playfair (1748 – 1819) used what has been termed as
quasimathematical methods for computing dips and
 D.F. Merriam / Earth-Science Reviews 67 (2004) 55–89
Table 4
Stages in development of quantitative geology
1650 – 1833 Origins stage Rudimentary applications of
mathematics to geological problems
in the areas of hydrogeology,
geophysics, structural geology, and
mineralogy.
1833 – 1895 Formative Application of trigonometry and
stage geometry to crystallography,
computations on age determinations,
heat flow, etc.
1895 – 1941 Exploration The use of uni- and bivariate statistics
stage to geological problems and the
deterministic approach. Provided the
basis for advancement in all
geological fields as techniques
became available; continued
development of mathematical
applications especially in geophysics.
1941 – 1958 Development Introduction of multivariate statistics
stage which allowed an expansion into
most fields of geology. Rapid
development of the probabilistic
approach to problem solving.
1958 – 1982 Automated Or the application of computers.
stage Development of the French
geostatistics; practical applications of
sophisticated techniques to geological
problems involving large realistic
data sets; development of simulation
and model studies, especially those
involving time.
1982 – present Integration Use of microcomputers (PCs) in all
stage aspects of data capture, manipulation,
and analysis. PCs used for number
crunching, word-processing, drafting,
communication, and bibliographic
work. PCs are being replaced by the
more powerful workstations.
other surface measurements to project the depth at
which beds would occur downdip, calculated areas
that rock types occupied in certain areas, and applied
the idea of integration of small changes to the
problem of gradual changes in stream valleys (Rud-
wick, 1972). At the turn of the 18th Century, other
quantitative measurements were being made such as
the determination of specific gravity of minerals,
subsurface temperature gradients and heat flow in
the Earth, and the estimation of volume of blocks of
material being transported by streams and glaciers
(which was used as evidence that streams cut their
own valleys).
65
Most of these applications were arithmetic or geo-
metric, with the exception of the application of calcu-
lus by Playfair. Other applications of calculus to
geological problems were being made at that time by
astronomers and physicists who were calculating plan-
etary motions. One of the foremost problems that faced
workers at that time in applying their mathematical
expertise was stated aptly by Playfair (1802, p. 457)
‘‘. . .where every object changes, it is difficult to find a
measure of change, or a fixed point from which the
computation may begin. The astronomers already feel
this inconvenience, and when they would refer their
observations to an immoveable plane, that shall pre-
serve its position the same in all ages, they meet with
difficulties, which cannot be removed but by a pro-
found mathematical investigation. In geology, we
cannot hope to be delivered from this embarrassment
in the same manner; and we have no resource but to
multiply observations of the difference of level: to
make them as exact as possible, and to select points of
comparison that have a chance of being long distin-
guished.’’ This plea was in response to the efforts at the
time to determine apparent changes in sea level.
John Playfair, a friend of James Hutton (1728 –
1799), was professor of mathematics and later held the
chair of natural philosophy at the University of Edin-
burgh. It was through Playfair’s Illustrations of the
Huttonian Theory that Hutton’s work was recognized
(McIntyre and McKirdy, 1997). Hutton (1788) wrote
in an awkward and heavy style that Playfair rewrote
into prose along with added interpretations of some of
his friend’s ideas. Therefore, it was only natural that he
use mathematical concepts in explaining the Huttonian
Theory, and in fact, he may have been responsible for
modifying some of Hutton’s original ideas.
At about the same time, another mathematician,
Paolo Frisi (1728 – 1784), in his mathematical dis-
courses (1782 – 1785), was considering the problem
of change in position of masses of transported sediment
in effecting the motion of the Earth. He calculated how
much waste might be eroded from the continents and
deposited in the sea per unit of time and then deter-
mined what change in motion of the globe should be as
a result and concluded that the change ‘‘. . .exceeds
more than ten times the age of any historical record.’’
He based his conclusion on his premise that ‘‘. . .if any
considerable mass of matter were accumulated in the
interior of the ocean, the diurnal motion of the globe
66 D.F. Merriam / Earth-Science Reviews 67 (2004) 55–89
Table 5
Some early quantitative papers, 1674 – 1833 (Origins stage)
P. Perrault 1674 De l’Origine des Fontaines
M. Adanson 1757 Histoire Naturelle du Senegal
Abbe Hauy 1801 Traite de Mineralogie
John Playfair 1802 Illustrations of the Huttonian
Theory of the Earth
P. Frisi 1818 A Treatise on the Rivers and Torrents;
With the Method of Regulating Their
Course and Channels
would be disturbed, and consequently, it would be
perceptible. . .’’
As early as 1762, Frisi (1818) described and
measured attributes of rivers including calculations
of velocity and quantity of water per second, etc., in
a study of transportation of material and hydraulics.
In this study, which is one of the first quantitative
studies on sediment transport, Frisi postulated several
principles of water flow.3 Some of these ideas may
have come from the French naturalist Pierre Perrault
(1611 –1680) and his early quantitative work on De
l’Origine des Fontaines (The Source of Water in
Springs and Rivers), which was published in 1674
(Mather and Mason, 1939); he related rainfall to
stream flow (Table 5). In fact, Ellenberger (1996, p.
109) credits Perrault with being the pioneer of
modern hydrogeology. According to von Zittel
(1901, p. 186), Simon Stevin, a Belgian mathemati-
cian, also carried out systematic studies in the 17th
Century of agents effecting changes on the Earth’s
surface.
At about this same time, geophysicists were busy
making contributions on calculations of the terrestrial
magnetism and density of the Earth (see Howarth,
2001). John Mitchell (1724? – 1793), an English
astronomer, developed the first torsion balance and
methods for reducing the data. These early quantita-
tive studies were carried on and enhanced by the
French geophysicist, Pierre Bouguer (1698 –1758).
An English clergyman, Robert Everest (c. 1805 –
1875), who was surveyor-general of India; John Pratt
(1811 – 1871), an English mathematician; George
Airy (1801 – 1892), an English astronomer; and
3
Everest (1832) continued this line of study on sediment
transport as well as other studies in his paper on ‘‘A Quantitative
Study of Stream Transport.’’
Charles Babbage, the English mathematician, all
contributed to the background for C.E. Dutton’s
(1841 –1912) principle of isostasy, proposed much
later. While the geophysicists were making their
calculations, the experimental chemists Lazarro Spal-
lanzani (1729 – 1799) and later, Sir James Hall
(1761 –1832) were perfecting their methods for the
analysis of rocks. Some of them were highly quan-
titative requiring carefully controlled conditions, so
by the mid- and late 18th Century, mineralogists had
developed blowpipe analysis and chemical analyses
to the point where the analytical tests for identifica-
tion were standardized and there were established
classification schemes.
3.2. Formative Stage (1833 – 1895)
As soon as an Analytical Engine exists, it will
necessarily guide the future course of science.
Passages from the Life of a Philosopher, Charles
Babbage (1864)
Thus, while crystallographers and microscopists
were busy with their calculations, Charles Lyell came
along with his proposal on how to subdivide the
Tertiary. In 1828, Lyell, visiting Paris on his way home
from an extensive trip in Europe, part of which was in
the company of Sir Roderick I. Murchison (1792 –
1871), met the conchologist Paul Deshayes (1795 –
1875), who was busy describing and sorting his exten-
sive mollusk collections. Lyell stayed and worked with
Deshayes to learn more of his methods and ideas and in
doing so, apparently, reinforced his own ideas on
uniformitarianism and developed and refined a scheme
of subdividing the Tertiary on the basis of percentage of
living vs. extinct fossil forms (Fisher, 1953, pp. 2– 3).
Geologists prior to Lyell had recognized the
sequences of strata, which we know as Primary and
Secondary, using in the first place the regularity of
order of superposition at the same locality. They also
observed that particular components of these forma-
tions could be recognized, although far apart, by their
characteristic fossils.4 They could not, by these
4
See, for example, Torrens (2003) on Phillips’ 1844 memoirs of
William Smith and Simon Winchester’s (2001) description of
William [Strata] Smith’s discoveries and accomplishments as a
surveyor and mapmaker.
 D.F. Merriam / Earth-Science Reviews 67 (2004) 55–89 67

means, recognize or establish the order among the Table 6

Tertiary rocks, for, in the part of the world then 1833 – 1895 Formative stage
accessible, these occur in patches and not over wide Charles Lyell 1830 – 1833 Principles of Geology
R. Everest 1832 Quantitative Study
areas overlying one another. Lyell determined the
of Stream Transportation
order and assigned to the successive rock masses the James Dana 1837 System of Mineralogy
names they now bear by a purely statistical argument. Samuel Haughton 1846 On the Laws of
A rich group of strata might yield so many as 1000 Equilibrium and
recognizable fossil species, mostly marine mollusks. Motion of Solid and
Fluid Bodies
A certain number of these might be still living in the
J. Clerk Maxwell 1870 On Hills and
seas of some part of the world or at least be morpho- Dales
logically indistinguishable from such a living species.
It was as though a statistician had a recent census
of the Tertiary by punctuating ‘‘. . .a uniform overall
record without recorded ages, and a series of undated
rate of change in the organic world’’ (Rudwick,
records of previous censuses in which some of the
1972, p. 183).
same individuals could be recognized. A knowledge
Lyell’s (1830 – 1833) efforts appeared as an Ap-
of the Life Table would then give him estimates of the
pendix in volume 3 in the first edition of the Princi-
dates, and, even without the Life Table, he could set in
ples of Geology (published as Table 6 in 1833).5 No
chronological order, merely by comparing the propor-
less than 56 pages on the classification of each
tion in each of those who were still living.
particular form and of the calculations based on the
With the aid of the eminent French M. Deshayes,
numbers counted were detailed. Lyell later (1863)
Lyell proceeded to list the identified fossils occurring
used this same idea in determining the age of Pliocene
in one or more strata and to ascertain the proportions
deposits in marine terraces when illustrating a point
now living. To a Sicilian group with 96% surviving, he
on climate changes.
later gave the name of Pleistocene (mostly recent).
While Lyell worked with Deshayes, he seemingly
Some sub-Appennine Italian rocks, and the English
was not aware of similar work by a German paleon-
Crag with about 40% of survivors, were called Plio-
tologist, Heinrick Bronn (1800 – 1862). In Heidelberg,
cene (majority recent). Forty percent may seem to be a
Bronn independently proposed a similar but broader
poor sort of majority but no doubt scrutiny of the
classification scheme in his work of 1831 (Rudwick,
identifications continued after the name was first
1972, p. 190). Nor does Lyell seem to have known of
bestowed, and the separation of the Pleistocene must
the work done in numerical taxonomy by the great
have further lowered the proportion of the remainder
French botanist Michael Adanson, which is strange
(Fisher, 1953). The Miocene, meaning ‘minority re-
considering his extensive travels and interest in others
cent,’ had 18%, and the Eocene, ‘the dawn of the
work. Adanson (1757) used unweighted characters to
recent,’ only 3% or 4% of living species. Not only did
determine similarity between taxa of mollusks. With
Lyell immortalize these statistical estimates in the
few exceptions (e.g., Whewell, 1840), Adanson’s
names used for the great divisions of the Tertiary
work was not followed up until an upsurge of activity
Series, but in an Appendix in his third volume, he
in the 1950s spearheaded by R.R. Sokal and P.H.A.
occupies no less than 56 pages with details of the
Sneath. Sokal and Sneath (1963) published their
classification of each particular form and of the calcu-
lations based on the numbers counted. There can be no
doubt that, at the time, the whole process, and its
results, gave Lyell the keenest intellectual satisfaction. 5
The data tables incidentally were not included in future
According to his own account, Lyell (1863, p. 3) editions of Principles and there has been some discussion as to
conceived the idea in 1828 for ‘‘. . .classing the whether the concepts on the Tertiary subdivision was original with
whole of this series [the Tertiary] of strata according Lyell. Paul Tasch in an unpublished manuscript concluded that
‘‘. . .the achievement of bringing the total data to a ‘gestalt,’ living
to the different degrees of affinity which their fossil and fossil mollusks and geological field evidence from different
testacea bore to living fauna.’’ He proposed this basins, belongs to Lyell. . .Lyell had no coequals in the matter of
statistical technique to help interpret the chronology priority in delineation of the definitive Tertiary epoch.’’
68 D.F. Merriam / Earth-Science Reviews 67 (2004) 55–89
definitive work on numerical taxonomy that resulted
in a rapid advance of the field of biometrics.
It is interesting to speculate whether Charles Bab-
bage influenced his friend Lyell’s thinking on quanti-
fication. Babbage, Lucasian Professor of Mathematics
at Cambridge, published several papers on geology
(Van Sinderen, 1980; Merriam, 1983). Lyell and Bab-
bage attended geological meetings together and some-
times social functions. Lyell (1881, v. 1, p. 363) noted
that Babbage ‘‘ . . .unconsciously jokes and reasons in
high mathematics, talks of the ‘algebraic equation’ of
such a one’s character, in regard to the truth of his
stories, & c.’’. Although there is no evidence of
cooperation or exchange of ideas specifically on the
application of mathematics to geological problems, it
is highly likely that, now and then, the two discussed
problems of mutual interest including Lyell’s proposed
subdivision of the Tertiary.6
Another interesting suggestion at this time was
the proposal by H.H. Hayden in 1820 for a series of
questions—the first field coding form—for ‘‘Geolo-
gists, mineralogists, and other persons of correct
observation, as being intimately connected with the
subjects contained in his work, and calculated to and
assist in all future researchers of a number kind.’’
The checklist of 100 questions served as a prompter
for a systematic examination of an area and record-
ing the data (Merriam, 1981b). (The list could have
been set up as in binary form for use with a
portapunch.) Interestingly enough, little or nothing
was done about coding forms in geology from Hay-
den’s time until Parker (1946) proposed a form for
recording well data in Illinois. However, automatic
data collection, coding, and processing developed
rapidly after introduction of the computer, and
resulted in the development of large integrated da-
ta-management systems such as G-EXEC, SAFRAS,
GIPSY, etc.
In other areas and nearly simultaneously, J.D.
Dana (1813 – 1895), in his first edition of System of
6
At about the same time Lyell was developing his ideas,
Charles Babbage was formulating his, but seemingly there was no
connection between Babbage’s interest in geology and his work on
his calculating engine. He saw the application of his Analytical
Engine to mathematical pursuits of all types but primarily in the
fields of astronomy, statistics, navigation, and pure mathematics
(see Merriam, 1981a).
Mineralogy (Dana, 1837), included An Appendix
Containing the Application of Mathematics to Crys-
tallographic Investigations. This Appendix is essen-
tially the application of analytical geometry to
crystallography. Dana also cites the work of C.F.
Naumann of 1830 in this field as well as in Abbe
Hauy’s (1743 – 1822) application of plane trigonom-
etry to crystallography (Abbe Hauy, 1801). Another
mineralogist, Delesse (1848), determined that relative
volumes of minerals in rocks could be measured
from random sections. Other examples of mathemat-
ical applications in this period include Haughton’s
(1846) On the Laws of Equilibrium and Motion of
Solid and Fluid Bodies, published in the Cambridge
and Dublin Mathematical Journal. A contemporary
of Haughton’s was William Hopkins, a mathemati-
cian at Cambridge. Hopkins’ main contribution was
through his students—several of whom gained prom-
inence in science—including Lord Kelvin (1824 –
1907) and James Clerk Maxwell (1838 – 1879)
(Cockbain, 1980).
The influence of mathematicians, and those with
a strong background in mathematics, thus perhaps
may have been more widespread than heretofore
realized or admitted. Some workers were trained as
philosophers or clergymen; others had solid back-
grounds in mathematics and the physical sciences—
astronomy, chemistry, and physics—or medicine.
During the 19th Century, much speculation on the
age of the Earth and climatic changes were made
based on mathematical calculations. In addition,
geodesy, experimental petrology, and chemical
applications required a certain amount of mathemat-
ical expertise. Several mathematicians were active in
the early and formative years of quantitative geol-
ogy including Robert Hooke, Baron von Leibnitz,
Laplace, and of course, John Playfair and Charles
Babbage.
Understandably, some misunderstandings must
have occurred and, therefore, suspicions between
mathematicians and geologists arose to such an extent
that by 1869, Charles Darwin (1809 – 1882), in a letter
to J.D. Hooker, advised his colleagues to beware of
trusting mathematicians (Darwin and Seward, 1903,
p. 314). Part of this cautiousness undoubtedly was the
result of criticism he received from mathematically
oriented scientists about his book, The Origins of
Species (Hull, 1973).
 D.F. Merriam / Earth-Science Reviews 67 (2004) 55–89
The latter part of the 19th Century saw other
advances and retreats in quantification. Advances
include Thomas Reade’s (1832 – 1909) quantitative
work (Reade, 1885) on solution as a factor of erosion,
and Clarke Maxwell’s On Hills and Dales (Clerk
Maxwell, 1870). Also at this time, much effort was
being put into calculation of the age of the Earth. Lord
Kelvin’s (Sir William Thomson) attempt was one of
those that, if not regressive, was certainly no help—
his calculations were far too conservative because
they were based on a fatal flaw in the inferences. It
was not the conservative estimates that were so
detrimental, but the considerable creditability given
them by the fact they had been determined by Lord
Kelvin. Therefore, it took years to dispel the errone-
ous ages.
So, too, were other calculations based on the
amount of salt in the oceans or sediment accumula-
tion rates by Sam Haughton in 1878 (Holmes, 1965,
p. 351). Although the ‘sodium method’ was sug-
gested by Edmund Halley in 1715, it was not until
1898 that John Joly was able to collect the data
necessary for a reasonable value on age, and even
that value, as Kelvin’s, was an underestimate because
of faulty assumptions (Joly, 1909). It was not until
radioactive-age dating, which was developed in the
early part of the 20th Century, that calculations could
be made accurately, calculations which incidentally
required considerable computations. Therefore, at the
turn of the 19th Century, marked changes were
taking place in geology and the Formative Stage in
the development of quantitative geology drew to a
close.
The close of the Formative Stage was punctuated
in 1895 by publication of a paper on Contributions
to the Mathematical Theory of Evolution by the great
statistician and founder of modern statistics Karl
Pearson (Cubitt and Henley, 1978). The scattered
papers on application of trigonometry and geometry
to solving geological problems published up to this
time seemingly had little effect on later workers and
in most aspects of geology. Part of the problem was
the education of geologists, and as aptly noted by
Van Bemmelen (Agterberg, 1974), geologists can be
categorized into two types: artists and scientists, and
the artistic side (qualitative aspects) developed faster
and more broadly in scope than the scientific side
(quantitative aspects). Porter (1977, p. 4) notes that,
69
‘‘There was continuous pressure to render the pursuit
more ‘scientific,’ while criteria of the ‘scientific’
themselves developed in course of time. Methods,
techniques and standards were forged which were
claimed to be more rigorous, philosophically sophis-
ticated and appropriate to the object. Pragmatically
speaking, these moves bore fruit.’’ This quantifica-
tion is taking place yet today and the wide use of
computer techniques has accelerated the process.
Therefore, it is interesting to note that Lyell’s statis-
tical contribution based on ratios was made even
prior to the formalization to the subject of statistics,
and the basis on which one of his major contribu-
tions was made was lost subsequently and its impact
limited (Fisher, 1953).
Thus, the point is that the statistical argument by
which one of the revolutions in geological sciences
was affected was almost immediately forgotten. In
later editions of the Lyell’s Principles, this great
Appendix, in which so much labor had been
expended, disappeared; it survived, indeed, only 2
years (until publication of the 2nd edition). It had
served its purpose, but the ladder by which the height
had been scaled was kicked down.
3.3. Exploration Stage (1895 –1941)
In the case of nearly all branches of science a great
advance was made when accurate quantitative
methods were used instead of merely qualitative.
On the Application of Quantitative Methods to the
Study of Structure and History of Rocks, H.C.
Sorby (1908)
There was little improvement during the next
half-century during the Exploration Stage, but Karl
Pearson’s (1857 – 1936) paper on Mathematical
Contributions. . .signaled a definite change (Pearson,
1895). The subject of Pearson’s paper was elicited
in the subtitle On a Form of Spurious Correlation
Which May Arise When Indices are Used in the
Measurement of Organs. A few numerically inclined
workers pioneered the application of the new field
of statistics to geology. Paleontologists (see espe-
cially Rowe, 1899; Trueman, 1930; Brinkmann,
1929) and sedimentologists (Sorby, 1908; Udden,
1914; Wentworth, 1929; Krumbein, 1936) made use
of statistical techniques to summarize and present
70 D.F. Merriam / Earth-Science Reviews 67 (2004) 55–89

Table 7 3.4. Development Stage (1941 –1958)

1895 – 1941 Exploration stage
Karl Pearson 1895 Contributions to the Mathematical
Theory of Evolution
J.A. Udden 1898 The Mechanical Composition of
Wind Deposits
A.W. Rowe 1899 An Analysis of the Genus Micraster,
as Determined by Rigid Zonal Collecting
From the Zone of Rhynchonella cuvieri
to That of Micraster coranairinum
H.C. Sorby 1908 On the Application of Quantitative
Methods to the Study of the
Structure and History of Rocks
J. Joly 1909 Radioactivity and Geology, an
Account of the Influence of Radioactive
Energy on Terrestrial History
W. Penck 1921 Morphologische Analyse
W.A. Richardson 1923 The Frequency-Distribution of Igneous
Rocks
C.K. Wentworth 1929 Method of Computing Mechanical
Composition Types in Sediments
A.E. Trueman 1930 Results of Some Recent Statistical
Investigations of Invertebrate Fossils
W.C. Krumbein 1934 The Probable Error of Sampling
Sediment for Mechanical Analysis
C. Eisenhart 1935 A Test for Significance of Lithological
Variation
W.C. Krumbein 1936 Application of Logarithmic Moments to
Size Frequency Distributions of
Sediments
H. Korn 1938 Schechtung und Absolute Zeit
Many geologists have been caught short in the
computer revolution: educated in a tradition
which emphasized the qualitative at the expense
of the quantitative, they are inadequately prepared
in mathematics, unfamiliar with statistics. Statis-
tics and Data Analysis in Geology, J.C. Davis
(1973)
The next stage comes with another statistician’s
contribution, Kolmogorov (1941), who introduced
probability methods into geology (Table 8). These
types of academic studies, however, were interrupted
by WWII. Nevertheless, the definitive paper by Bag-
nold (1941) on The Physics of Blown Sand and Desert
Dunes, which was a highly quantitative analysis of the
subject, appeared just about the time of the war. This
stage continued after the war but was really underde-
veloped in the strictest sense because of the laborious
calculations necessary to do anything meaningful.
About this time, Ben Burma initiated his multivariate
studies in paleontology, resulting in his trilogy of
contributions on ‘Studies in Quantitative Paleontolo-
gy’ (Burma, 1948, 1949, 1953). [Burma] ‘‘. . .was a
pioneer in the study of quantitative invertebrate pale-
ontology in the days when the involved and tiresome
mathematical calculations were performed by hand

their enormous amounts of data on populations

(Table 7).
Henry Clifton Sorby (1826 – 1908) published his Table 8
classic paper, On the Application of Quantitative 1941 – 1958 Development stage
Methods to the Study of the Structure and History A.N. Kolmogorov 1941 The Lognormal Law of Distribution
of Rocks in 1908 (Sorby, 1908). His purpose was to of Particle Sizes During Crushing
apply quantitative methods to the mass of data H.E. Horton 1945 Erosional Development of
accumulated in his stream experiments and inves- Streams and Their Drainage Basins
tigations of slaty cleavage. His last paper, perhaps A.B. Vistelius 1947 Stochastic Basis of a O.V.
Sarmanov Geologically Important
his most important one geologically, set the stage for Probability Distribution
additional advances in quantitative geology by sug- A.H. Strahler 1952 Dynamic Basis of Geomorphology
gesting additional studies and lines of inquiry. Many H.J. Pincus 1952 Some Methods for Operating on
examples of univariate and bivariate statistical appli- Orientation Data
cations could be given for the early part of the 20th R.L. Miller 1953 Introduction to Special Issues on
Statistics in Geology
Century. In petrology, studies could be cited starting W.C. Krumbein 1955 Experimental Design in the Earth
with Reyer (1877) and extended to Richardson’s Sciences
(1923) paper, in stratigraphy by Eisenhart (1935) A.H. Strahler 1956 Quantitative Slope Analysis
and Korn (1938), and in geomorphology by Penck F. Chayes 1956 Petrographic Modal Analysis
(1921). L.H. Ahrens 1957 Lognormal-type Distributions
 D.F. Merriam / Earth-Science Reviews 67 (2004) 55–89 71

Fig. 5. (Upper) G. Baily Price worked in Operations Research (OR) unit in Bletchley Park, England, during WWII from 1943 to 1945, where
Colossus was located. Price visited Bletchley again in 2002 where a replica of Colossus was on display (he is on the right, caretaker on the left).
Price was head of KU Department of Mathematics and Chairman of University Committee that recommended KU secure its first computer—
IBM 650. Early experience with computers at KU is similar to other American academic institutions. (Lower) IBM 650 at University of Kansas,
ca. 1957, with the first director of ‘computer center,’ Urs Hochstrasser of the Department of Mathematics.
72 D.F. Merriam / Earth-Science Reviews 67 (2004) 55–89

rather than on a pocket or desktop calculator’’ (Kaska,
1986).
WWII was the time of accelerated development of
automated methods and development of computers to
deal with problems of the war effort, a push in the
development of technology (Table 1; Fig. 5). After the
war, as things gradually changed, these advances and
developments were made available commercially. In
1954, IBM unveiled its 650 computer that used
punched cards for input/output, and results were
printed by specially designed wired-print boards on
another machine. Calculations were made using ma-

Fig. 6. Computer program written in machine language SOAP for IBM 650 (from Krumbein and Sloss, 1958).
 D.F. Merriam / Earth-Science Reviews 67 (2004) 55–89 73

Fig. 6 (continued ).

chine language or the programming language SOAP failure because of the heat generated and because
(Fig. 6). there were so many tubes in a unit, the failures came
The early computers (the IBM 650 and later IBM’s often. (The airconditioners typically occupied more
700 series) used vacuum tubes, which were subject to space than the computer.) This problem was solved
74 D.F. Merriam / Earth-Science Reviews 67 (2004) 55–89
after ‘invention’ and use of transistors in place of
vacuum tubes, and, in addition, transistors facilitated
calculations (Fig. 7).
The early quantitatively oriented workers were
viewed with some suspicion and were not accepted
widely by fellow workers because of some feeling of
distrust in mathematical and computer-oriented stud-
ies—this was mainly because the ‘artistic ones’ did
not comprehend the basics of the different approach.
The Development Stage offered some interesting
geological papers, but the real impetus for accelerated
development was the introduction of the computer.
All at once, difficult or impossible things were avail-
able easily and, therefore, progress towards quantifi-
cation took a real leap forward and the computer age
was upon us (Merriam, 1981b). The IBM 650 (Fig. 5),
thus, set the stage for the automation of geology
which was announced to the geologic public via
Krumbein and Sloss’ (1958) paper; Babbage’s predic-
tion of 1864 was fulfilled.
3.5. Automated Stage (1958 – 1982)
Among the earliest uses of the digital computer in
geology was its application to relatively simple
statistical analysis. . .then to map studies and
multiple regression. From these beginnings. . .use
Fig. 7. IBM 1620, second-generation machine at University of Kansas, ca. 1966.
of the computer spread into virtually all fields of
geology. . .. The Computer in Geological Perspec-
tive, William C. Krumbein (1969)
3.5.1. Early developments
The conceptual stage of computer applications in
geology took place during the 1950s. The story is told
well by perusing the Bibliography of Computer Appli-
cations in the Earth Sciences, 1948– 1970 compiled
by Merriam (1988). Early workers include W.C.
Krumbein (1902 – 1979), J.C. Griffiths (1912 – 1992),
A.B. Vistelius (1915 – 1995), Felix Chayes (1916 –
1993), and Georges Matheron (1930 – 2000); all had a
profound affect on the development of the subject. It
was during this time that geologists recognized the
potential of the new tool as an extension of the mind
(Merriam, 1981b). Early applications were mainly
calculations that had been done previously by hand
or by calculator. Geophysicists, geochemists, engi-
neering geologists, and others, who were quantitative-
ly inclined, simply exchanged their calculators and
slide rules for computers where computation was
speeded up and fewer errors were made—hallmark
of computers: reliability and reproducibility. Many
papers were published containing suggestions of pos-
sibilities, and the literature was long on ideas but short
on meaningful applications (Table 9).
 D.F. Merriam / Earth-Science Reviews 67 (2004) 55–89 75

Table 9 machine language and cards or paper tape because

1958 – 1982 Automated stage input had to be punched; run time was long and many
W.C. Krumbein/ 1958 High-Speed Digital Computers in errors could occur during processing time; and the
L.L. Sloss Analysis Stratigraphic and Facies
vision of applications mainly was limited by the user
R.R. Sokal/ 1963 Principles of Numerical
P.H.A. Sneath Taxonomy and the technology to analytical techniques. In addi-
G. Matheron 1963 Principles of Geostatistics tion, most geologists were cautious and even suspi-
D.F. Merriam/ 1964 Trend-Surface Analysis of cious of computers which no doubt dated from the
J.W. Harbaugh Regional and Residual time of Darwin and his warning to beware of trusting
Components of Geologic
mathematicians (and by extension, to computers).
Structure in Kansas
W.C. Krumbein/ 1965 An Introduction to Statistical To process large databases, it was necessary to
F.A. Graybill Models in Geology analyze available geological data and determine how
A.B. Vistelius 1967 Studies in Mathematical Geology they could be stored and retrieved in machines with
J.C. Griffiths 1967 Scientific Method in Analysis of limited capacity (Hubaux, 1969, 1970). To handle the
Sediments
enormous amount of accumulated data in the early
J.W. Harbaugh/ 1968 Computer Applications in
D.F. Merriam Stratigraphic Analysis days, it was necessary to code them with semantic
J.E. Robinson/ 1969 Structural Analysis Using Spatial symbols (Dixon, 1970). A good summary of data
H.A.K. Charlesworth/ Filtering in Interior Plains of processing and databases used in geology as of the
M.J. Ellis South-Central Alberta early 1970s is given by Bergeron et al. (1972). This
J.W. Harbaugh/ 1970 Computer Simulation in Geology
approach was difficult and awkward and was fortu-
G.F. Bonham-Carter
F. Chayes 1971 Ratio Correlation nately superseded shortly by machines with larger
J.C. Davis 1973 Statistics and Data Analysis in memories, making it possible to use full citations.
Geology It was at this time that the petroleum and mining
F.P. Agterberg 1974 Geomathematics companies became interested in using computers for
W. Schwarzacher 1975 Sedimentation Models and
both exploration and exploitation (in addition to book-
Quantitative Stratigraphy
K.G. Jöreskog/ 1976 Geological Factor Analysis keeping chores; see, for example, Dillon, 1964). IBM
J.E. Klovan/ formed a group headed by Bill Peikert, one of Krum-
R.A. Reyment bein’s students, to promote the use of their computers
I. Clark 1979 Practical Geostatistics in the petroleum industry (Peikert, 1969). Their pub-
J.E. Robinson 1982 Computer Applications in
lished computer programs and instructions served as a
Petroleum Geology
R.W. LeMaitre 1982 Numerical Petrology model for the Kansas Geological Survey Special
Distribution Publications and later, the Computer
Contributions (Merriam, 1999). Mining companies
It was also a time when a number of textbooks on were concerned mainly with ore-reserve estimations
the subject were published. Following the lead of and Georges Matheron and Danie Krige pioneered
Miller and Kahn’s (1962) book on statistics in the these efforts. Because companies could afford real
geological sciences, Krumbein and Graybill (1965) computing power, their numerically oriented geolo-
published An Introduction to Statistical Models in gists often were miles ahead of the academics and thus
Geology. Griffiths (1967) looked into sampling and could and did make numerous notable contributions.
statistics in the analysis of sediments in his authorita-
tive book on the subject. And in (1968), Harbaugh 3.5.2. A decade of rapid development
and Merriam summarized the use of computers in Toward the end of the 1950s, 2nd-generation
stratigraphy. computers (Fig. 8) and higher-level languages were
Part of the problem in the early days was simply introduced. Programming became easier; machines
the limit of the machines; the amount of data that were made accessible; and computing became more
could be processed was limited by storage space and economical. As a result, geologists branched out into
run time. Only the simplest computations could be modifying statistical techniques and mathematical
done and those only with difficulty. Programming was procedures to solve their problems; algorithms were
extremely awkward and tedious, for example, in borrowed form other disciplines; and many papers
76 D.F. Merriam / Earth-Science Reviews 67 (2004) 55–89

Fig. 8. (Upper) IBM 7040 at University of Kansas, which replaced IBM 1620 in ca. 1968, and (lower) IBM 7090 at Stanford University in 1963.
Both second-generation machines used transistors.
 D.F. Merriam / Earth-Science Reviews 67 (2004) 55–89
were published demonstrating the use of different
techniques (Table 10). In the 1960s, multivariate
statistical techniques, such as trend analysis, were
applied (Fig. 9). Trend analysis, separating a large-
scale effect from the local effects, became popular
because it was a technique that geologists could
understand and interpret the results; they had been
using such a procedure and computing and plotting
the data by hand (Fig. 10). The concept of simulation
(modeling) was introduced early (see Chapter 8 of
Harbaugh and Merriam, 1968; and later, Whitten,
1983; Schaeben, 1988); Harbaugh and Bonham-Car-
ter’s (1970) book on geologic simulation was a decade
or so ahead of its time but a forerunner of things to
come.
In analyzing the subject matter of some of these
early papers, it is interesting to note that certain
nationalistic trends occur. For example, geologists in
Germany, France, Canada, and Czechoslovakia were
concerned with data, its collections, and treatment.
Geologists in other countries were more concerned
with applications—in the United Kingdom, to sedi-
mentological, paleontological, and geomorphological
problems; in India, to petrological ones; in Italy, to
geochemical problems; and in the USSR, to sedimen-
tological and petrological problems. Much work was
done on structural and tectonic problems by the Ger-
mans, hydrology by the French, and mineral explora-
tion by the Canadians, South Africans, and Czechs.
Trend analysis was popular in the UK, India, and
Australia; factor analysis in France; power-spectra
studies in Romania; and simulation in the United
States. These generalities reflected to some extent
Table 10
Some techniques available to geologists
Sequential Spatial Dimension-free
Power spectrum autocorrelation correlation coefficients
Variograms 2D power strata regression analysis
Cross-correlationkriging cluster analysis
Autocorrelation bicubic spline principal components
Cross-associationtrend analysis factor analysis
Autoassociation 2D Fourier analysis canonical correlation
Markov chains 3D trend analysis
discriminant functions
Fourier analysis spatial filtering
Moving averages fractals
Time trend
77
the availability of hardware, workable software, local
problems, and interest of those geologists working
with computers (Merriam, 1974a).
Rapid growth and accelerated interest in computer
use occurred during the 1960s as many saw the
potential of this powerful tool. Dissemination of
information was paramount and had to be timely. In
pre-Internet time, dissemination was by hardcopy.
GeoRef, the leading bibliographic database was estab-
lished, Computer Applications in the Mineral Indus-
tries (APCOM), a series of meetings in the mineral
industries, and the Kansas Colloquia were established
(with accompanying proceedings), and the Kansas
Computer Contributions made their debut (Merriam,
1999).
The International Association for Mathematical
Geology (IAMG) was founded at the ill-fated Inter-
national Geological Congress in Prague in 1968,
largely at the instigation of Richard A. Reyment
(Merriam, 1978). The IAMG, affiliated both with
the International Union of Geological Sciences
(IUGS) and the International Statistical Institute
(ISI), in a few short years, established three interna-
tional journals [Mathematical Geology, 1969; Com-
puters & Geosciences, 1975; and Natural Resources
Research (formerly Nonrenewable Resources), 1992]
and a newsletter, sponsored numerous meetings, and
fostered and facilitated an exchange of ideas on a
worldwide basis.
For a time, in the late 1970s and 1980s, a group of
interested workers formed a society in Denver
concerned with microcomputing—Computer-Orient-
ed Geological Society (GOGS). They were successful
in disseminating information to interested workers
through publications and a series of meetings.
The status of computer use in the different geolog-
ical disciplines was summarized in a collection of
papers published in 1969 (Merriam, 1969) and
updated a decade later (Merriam, 1981d). By the
1980s, however, the proliferation of the hardware
and software was so widespread in the geosciences,
making assessment of the status in subdisciplines of
geology difficult, and the surveys were not continued.
Some workers at this time in the field began to
publish their works including F.P. Agterberg (mineral
resources), G.F. Bonham-Carter (mineral resources/
pollution), F. Chayes (petrology), J.M. Forgotson, Jr.
(petroleum), W.T. Fox (sedimentology), G.M. Fried-
78 D.F. Merriam / Earth-Science Reviews 67 (2004) 55–89

Fig. 9. (A) Subset of geological subjects, methods of data analysis, and time in 2-year periods. (B) Horizontal slice to show time of entry of
computer applications in stratigraphy. Dashed lines indicate precomputer applications of methods shown. (C) Vertical slice cut to show spread of
Markov models into various geological fields by year (from Krumbein, 1969).

man (sedimentology), J.W. Harbaugh (petroleum), J. 3.5.3. Pervasion of computers in geology

Imbrie (paleoecology), R.L. Kaesler (paleontology),
G.S. Koch, Jr. (mining), D.G. Krige (mining), T.V.
Loudon (structure), G. Matheron (mining), R.B.
McCammon (stratigraphy), D.B. McIntyre (petrology),
D.F. Merriam (stratigraphy), A.T. Miesch (geochemis-
try), R.A. Reyment (paleontology), W. Schwarzacher
(stratigraphy), and E.H.T. Whitten (structure).
By the 1970s, computers had become available
and were easier and economical to use (Merriam,
1981c). High-level symbolic languages were avail-
able with the 3rd-generation machines and interac-
tive systems forecasted the demise of cards and
paper tape; terminals were everywhere. Sequential
and spatial analysis were being used extensively and

Fig. 10. Example of early computer graphics—lineprinter output of: (A) first-, (B) second-, and (C) third-degree trend surfaces representing
regional geologic structure in Kansas (from Merriam and Harbaugh, 1964; made with BALGOL computer program on Stanford IBM 7090,
Harbaugh, 1963).
D.F. Merriam / Earth-Science Reviews 67 (2004) 55–89 79
80 D.F. Merriam / Earth-Science Reviews 67 (2004) 55–89
dimension-free methods were gaining popularity
(Table 10). Simulation was introduced and the
modeling of geological processes now was realistic.
GeoRef and GeoArchives both went on-line. In
addition, meetings were held on the subject first
with the Kansas Geological Survey Colloquia fol-
lowed by the Syracuse University Geochautauquas,
which, in the early days, were the longest lasting
and most effective forum for disseminating infor-
mation on geomathematics and geocomputing.
Databases proliferated and were accessible through
timesharing networks. Different countries, especially
Canada, Romania, and Czechoslovakia, worked to-
wards development of large archival files; others
toward special files for mapping, mineral resources,
geochemistry, paleontology, well information, etc.
(Merriam, 1974b). GEOMAP was developed in Swe-
den for field mapping data and GRENVILLE in
Canada. CRIB contained the mineral-resource data of
the U.S. Geological Survey and RASS contained their
geochemical data. COGEODATA (a committee of the
IUGS) looked after standards and quality control for
the international exchange of data. Database Manage-
ment Systems (DBMS) came into being to handle
these databases. G-EXEC, GIPSY, SASFRAS,
GRASP, and CLAIR (all acronyms for their special-
ties) were just a few of the DBMS which came into
existence at this time. The large databases and sophis-
ticated programs available set the stage for the super-
computer (Bethke et al., 1988).
The journal Mathematical Geology, the premier
hardcopy computer publication disseminating geo-
mathematical information, was joined by the IAMG
journal, Computers & Geosciences (C&G). C&G is
devoted to the rapid publication of computer pro-
grams in widely used languages and their applica-
tions (Merriam, 1992). C&G was the successor to
GEOCOM Bulletin, which took over publishing
computer programs in 1971 at the conclusion of
the Kansas Geological Survey’s series of successful
Computer Contributions. In 1990, C&G took over
publication of the COGS software and, in 1993,
assumed the papers from the demise of the Amer-
ican Association of Petroleum Geologists’ Geobyte.
The aim of C&G is to serve as a public medium for
exchange of ideas between the geological and
computer sciences—a concise statement as to an
interdisciplinary venture approximately 150 years
after constitution of the parent bodies (geology
and computer science).
Interestingly, in a study of specialized journals,
Payne and Merriam (1992, 1993) determined that the
C&G was cited more than anticipated, and that more
authors outside the geosciences cited the journal than
expected.
An experiment in publishing computer programs
on softstrip was initiated for C&G, but this unique
system did not gain acceptance. Although softstrip
was permanent, durable, and easy to reproduce and
distribute, it required special equipment to produce
and read. Thus, the user could not ‘translate’ the bar
code easily. This problem was solved by floppy disks
(initially 5 1/4 in., and later 3 1/2 in. ones), which
were readable almost anywhere. The 3 1/2-in. floppy
has a capacity of 720K and is readily portable, and
thus became the preferred method of hardcopy com-
munication. Now, CDs are used for storage and
distribution of all types of computer-oriented data
(Merriam, 1991).
A new generation of workers appeared in the late
1970s. Their foundation in mathematics and statis-
tics was solid, along with their good geological
background. Just a few of the many outstanding
workers to be mentioned include J.C. Brower, Iso-
bel Clark, J.M. Cubitt, Michel David, J.C. Davis,
J.H. Doveton, P.A. Dowd, Steve Henley, Michael
Ed. Hohn, Richard J. Howarth, A. Journel, and
Donald E. Myers.
3.6. Integration Stage (1982 – present)
Like a canal navigator watching an iron horse
steam by, like a railroad engineer sighting a
horseless carriage, the geologist viewing images
on computer screen is witness to a paradigm shift.
Unrecognized assumptions lose their validity, and
things will never be the same again. Geoscience
after IT, T.V. Loudon (2000)
3.6.1. The PC era
In the fourth decade of computer applications,
the physical size of the machines decreased enor-
mously and they became user-friendly. These attrib-
utes were the result of advances in technology
(Table 11; McIntyre, 1981). Such developments as
virtual memory (VM), bubble memory, memory
 D.F. Merriam / Earth-Science Reviews 67 (2004) 55–89 81

Table 11
Progression of computer development to present
Time technology Software Orientation
1950s 1st-generation Machine language Cards and paper tape
machines—vacuum tubes
1960s 2nd-generation Low-level symbolic languages, e.g., SOAP, Cards, RJEs, magnetic tape, batch
machines—transistors FORTRAN, ALGOL, COBOL
1970s 3rd-generation machines— High-level symbolic-languages, e.g., Interactive sharing disks, CRTs
integrated circuits—minis macroassembler; BASIC, Pascal, USP:
Database management e.g., ADABAS;
Database languages, e.g., IMS
1980s 4th-generation machines—VLSI Virtual memory; special high-level Networking, floppy disks, smart
circuits, micros (PCs), languages; user friendly spreadsheets, e.g., terminals, interactive, and color
supercomputers neXT computers, VisaCalc and Lotus 1,2,3, query languages graphics
Hypercubes
1990s 5th-generation machines—parallel Windows; specialist languages for data CD-ROMs, communications, laser
processing – —workstations/RISC, manipulation and graphics disks, optic scanners
Palmtops

chips, optical fibers, large-scale and very large scale
integrated (LSI and VLSI) circuits revolutionized
the hardware.7 Microcomputers became ubiquitous.
The personal computer (PC), because of its low cost
and user orientation, was almost instantly accepted
(Krajewski, 1986).
Software was improved with fast algorithms such
as the fast Fourier transform (FFT), user-friendly
languages, and telecommunications. Networking be-
came ubiquitous. The invention of metalanguage(s)
for solving geological problems was proposed by
Griffiths (1982). To date, however, none have been
forthcoming, with the exception of geostatistiques, a
development of the French school, which is the only
technique developed expressibly for solving geologi-
cal problems (Matheron, 1962, 1963). Synthesizers
were introduced so that it was possible to transmit
instructions to computer vocally.
3.6.2. The Pentium
Developments now are literally taking place faster
than they can be chronicled. New and more powerful
mainframe computers have been introduced including
the IBM 9000 series and super supercomputers. There
is an increase in use of optical scanners. The i486 chip
is obsolete and its successor, the Pentium, which has
been incorporated into the new computer lines,
7
The latest development is the terabyte disk drive with
anticipation of petabyte drives in the near future (Hayes, 2002).
improves speed and capacity. Palmtop systems have
been introduced and the trend is to be even smaller
and faster (Merriam, 1991).
In software, there has been an improvement and
introduction of new and better operation systems.
DOS and UNIX are used widely; Windows has
proven popular. An extensive use has been made of
high-level and specialized languages such as LISP,
Turbo-Pascal, PROLOG, C, and J (Table 12). Geo-
graphic Information Systems (GIS) have become
widely used (Bonham-Carter, 1994). New mathemat-
ical/statistical techniques have become available in-
cluding chaos theory, fractals, and meta-analysis;
these trends as noted by Cox (1991) continue. FOR-
TRAN is declining if compared with other languages
(from 100% in 1975 to 50% in 1992). APL, PL/1, and
ALGOL essentially are gone and have been for
several years. BASIC seems to have peaked in the late
1980s as other new and specialist languages, such as
PROLOG, LISP, and C, took over. Recently, there has
been an increase in the use of spreadsheets and
specialist languages for data manipulation and
graphics. These trends are likely to continue in the
future.
New approaches have been developed, paralle-
ling the advances in hardware/software. Worksta-
tions give geologist an integrated look at their
problems (Table 13). Compact discs with read-only
memory (CD-ROMs) put tremendous amounts of
data at their fingertips; networks connect electronic
82 D.F. Merriam / Earth-Science Reviews 67 (2004) 55–89

Table 12
Numbers of articles listing programs in various languages in Computers & Geosciences, Volumes 1 – 18, 1975 – 1992 (adapted from Cox, 1991)
Year Volume FORTRAN APL BASIC Pl/1 ALGOL PASCAL C LISP PROLOG Othersa Total
1975 – 1976 1 20 20
1976 2 17 1 3 21
1977 3 23 1 1 1 26
1978 4 20 20
1979 5 13 7 1 21
1980 6 16 3 1 20
1981 7 27 2 29
1982 8 20 1 21
1983 9 18 3 21
1984 10 17 1 4 22
1985 11 31 8 1 40
1986 12 31 7 1 1 40
1987 13 23 1 11 3 2 40
1988 14 20 1 9 6 1 1 38
1989 15 32 20 1 8 3 2 66
1990 16 36 5 4 7 1 3 1 57
1991 17 36 12 6 6 9 69
1992 18 25 6 1 7 1 9 49
Total 425 7 99 3 2 30 27 3 5 19 620
a
Others include mostly spreadsheets and specialist languages for data manipulation and graphics.

mail to supercomputers and on-line databases (both
factual and bibliographical). Along with e-mail, fax
transmission has improved our ability to commu-
nicate and communicate fast (Merriam, 1990).
Much of our ‘substantial’ information exchange
now takes place through these communication
networks before hardcopy publication. It is neces-
sary to be linked into the communications network
to be fully aware of current happenings. New
journals are on-line (no hardcopy) and established
journals are being put on-line. Most journals ask
for digitized text and illustrations along with the
hardcopy, or require authors to submit the manu-
script directly via e-mail. It is now possible to
submit a paper for publication and have the
review, revision, editing, typesetting, and publica-
tion all take place electronically with no hardcopy
involved.

Table 13
Examples of generations of microcomputers (adapted from Barr, 1985)
Examples Dominant Operating
processor system
1977 1st generation, Apple II, PET, TRS 80, BBC 6502 Apple DOS, Commodore,
8 bit Micro, Commodore 64 Tandy, Acorn
1979 2nd generation, Superbrain, RML 380 Z, Z80 CP/M
8 bit Osborne, Epson QX 10
1981 3rd generation, Sirius 1, IBM PC, DEC 8088 CP/M 86, MS-DOS
8/16 bit Rainbow 100, ACT Apricot
1983 4th generation, Apple Lisa, Sage 68000 UNIX?
16/32 bit
1991 5th generation, 88000 UNIX and Microsoft OS/2
32 bit Sun workstations 80386SX
SiliconGraphics i486
Macintosh Pentium
 D.F. Merriam / Earth-Science Reviews 67 (2004) 55–89
Undoubtedly, there will be more hardware/software
creations, changes, and improvements. Machines will
become faster, more compact, and more portable
(Table 14). Software will become more user-friendly,
more easily available, and more powerful. Commu-
nications will continue to improve and program/data
exchange will be almost instantaneous and available
to anyone desiring or needing it. Large databases
are accessible to the users that are tied into net-
works; bulletin boards serve as newsletters for
organizations. Off-line CD-ROMs provide an enor-
mous amount of instantly available data/information.
Manuscripts, as noted, are being submitted via the
network. All phases of science will be faster, more
intense, more focused, and require better education
and background than required of geologists today. It
will be a challenge for users to stay aware of these
new hardware/software advances and innovative
applications.
Loudon (2000) took a look into the future with
his predictions in Geoscience After IT, IT being
Information Technology. He notes that IT handles
tools for information, computers, and networks, and
IT, which is more efficient, allows a better expres-
sion of concepts and an exchange of ideas. IT is how
geoscientists investigate the real world, how they are
organized, and what they know and how they think.
His summary, therefore, is IT is the way of the
future.
In 1972, I predicted (in general terms; Mer-
riam, 1972) that ‘‘Computers undoubtedly will be
Table 14
A. Computation speeds (modified from Knuth, 1976)
Man (pencil and paper) 0.2/s
Man (abacus) 1/s
Mechanical calculator 4/s
Medium-speed computer 200,000/s
Fast computer 200,000,000/s
Super fast computer 32,000,000,000/s
1,000,000,000,000/s
B. Cubic feet/1 million characters of storage (data from IBM)
1953 400 ft3
1959 100 ft3
1970 8.0 ft3
1976 0.3 ft3
1979 0.03 ft3
1991 0.00003 ft3
83
easier to communicate with and become faster
and larger (in capacity). Graphic displays will
be more sophisticated and realistic. Programs will
be easier to use and available through various
exchanges developed on national and international
levels. Programs will be thoroughly tested, thus
reliable, increasing the credibility of the results.
Databases will be compatible and available
through national and international organizations.
Cooperation among geologists will increase as
they strive to fully use their data for all the
information it contains.’’
All of these predictions have come to pass and
exceed expectations. The next 20 years is most
likely to see a continuation of these trends and
even an acceleration! As implied by Vic Loudon,
one of the few things that we can be sure of in this
world is change, only the rate is unknown.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Alan P. Brynes of the
Kansas Geological Survey, John C. Davis of Baker
University, John W. Harbaugh of Stanford Univer-
sity, Richard J. Howarth of Imperial College
(London), Richard A. Reyment of the University
of Uppsala (Sweden), Donald B. McIntyre, former-
ly of Pamona College, now residing in Perth,
Scotland, Floyd W. Preston of the University of
Kansas, and Gerry Friedman of the Rensselaer
Center of Applied Geology for reading a prelim-
inary version of the manuscript and offering
helpful, insightful suggestions. As usual, I was
abetted in many ways by the Survey’s information
specialist Janice Sorensen; I owe her undue thanks
for help.
Appendix A . Kansas Geological Survey Colloquia
The first colloquium was organized and held at
the Kansas Geological Survey, The University of
Kansas in 1966. This series of meetings was
organized to fulfill a definite need to disseminate
information on the latest developments in quantita-
tive geology and computer applications. All eight
meetings that were held are shown in Table A1. In
84 D.F. Merriam / Earth-Science Reviews 67 (2004) 55–89

Table A1 Table A2
List of colloquia hosted by the KGS (from Merriam, 1999) Geochautauquas
1st 1966 Colloquium on Classification Precedures (KGS/CC7) 1 1972 Syracuse The Impact of Quantification on
2nd 1967 Colloquium on Trend Analysis (KGS/CC12) Geology
3rd 1967 Colloquium on Time-Series Analysis (KGS/CC18) 2 1973 Syracuse Geologic Data Analysis with
4th 1968 Colloquium on Simulation (KGS/CC22) Computers
5th 1968 Colloquium on Sampling (KGS/CC30) 3 1974 Syracuse Computers and Mineral Resources
6th 1969 Colloquium on Computer Applications (CAES/1)a 4 1975 Syracuse CAI in Geology
7th 1970 Colloquium on Optical-Data Processing (no publication) 5 1976 Syracuse Computer Software in the
8th 1970 Colloquium on Geostatistics (CAES/2)a Geosciences
KGS/CC: Kansas Geological Survey Computer Contributions. 6 1977 Syracuse Quantitative Stratigraphic Correlation
CAES: Computer Applications in the Earth Sciences, a book series 7 1978 Syracuse Mathematical Models in the Earth
sponsored by the IAMG and published by Plenum Press. Sciences
a
Cohosted by the IAMG. 8 1979 Syracuse Computer Applications in the Earth
Sciences, an Update of the 1970s
9 1980 Miami Climate Models and the Past, The
1971, the meetings at KGS/KU were continued as
Role of Oceans on Geochemical
the Geochautauquas at Syracuse University. Cycles, and Natural Resource
Discovery and Models
10 1981 Ottawa Use of computers in Mineral-
Appendix B . Syracuse University Geochautauquas Resources Evaluation
11 1982 Urbana New Developments in Quantification
of Coal Geology
The Geochautauquas were the follow-up organized 12 1983 Lawrence Think Deep: Computer Methods in
meetings of the KGS Colloquia. The first one was held the Subsurface
at Syracuse University in the fall of 1972 and others 13 1984 Morgantown Big Programs on Small Machines:
were held yearly after that (Table A2). In 1980, the Research Methods on Mini and
Microcomputers
meetings started to rotate to interested organizations
14 1985 Wichita Computer Applications in Petroleum
that wanted to host the group. In 1986, the meetings Exploration and Development
went international with the first meeting outside the 15 1986 Calgary Computers in the Petroleum Industry:
United States in Calgary, Canada. Starting in 1991. ‘‘Integrated Approaches’’
The meetings consisted of a session in conjunction 16 1987 Pribram Mathematical Methods in Geology
17 1988 Tucson Computers for the Analysis of
with another meeting and continued in that venue until
Geochemical and Hydrogeochemical
discontinuance in 1997 after the establishment of the Data
IAMG’s Annual Meetings in 1994. 18 1989 Newark Mineral-Resource Assessment
19 1990 Freiburg Three-Dimensional Computer
Graphics in Modeling Geologic
Structures and Simulating Geologic
Appendix C . International Association for
Processes
Mathematical Geology (IAMG) Annual Meetings 20 1991 Denver Mapping algorithms and applications
(with Denver GeoTech ’91)
In 1994, IAMG decided to hold annual stand-alone 21 1992 Kyoto Mathematical and statistical analyses
meetings with the exception of those years of the IGC of geological data (with 29th
International Geological Congress)
when they would have sessions in conjunction with
22 1993 Prague Mathematical, statistical, and
the Congress (Table A3). These meetings have been computing problems in the geological
successful and a publication has resulted from each. sciences (with 25th Silver
Anniversary Meeting of IAMG)
23 1994 Mt. Tremblant Basin analysis (with IAMG Annual
Meeting)
Appendix D . APCOM Meetings
24 1995 Osaka Mathematical Methods in the Earth
Sciences (with 2nd Annual Meeting
The first meeting in the APCOM (APplication of of IAMG)
COMputers and operational research in the mineral (continued on next page )
industries) series was initiated and sponsored by the
 D.F. Merriam / Earth-Science Reviews 67 (2004) 55–89 85

Table A2 (continued ) Table A4

25 1996 Beijing Mathematical and Statistical Data List of APCOM meetings and international symposia
Analysis in Geology (with 30th IGC, 1 1961 Tucson, AZ Computers and computer
session 19-5) applications in the Mineral
26 1997 Barcelona Quantitative Methods in the Earth Industries
Sciences (in conjunction with 3rd 2 1962 Tucson, AZ Mathematical techniques and
IAMG Annual Meeting-IAMG’97) computer applications in mining
Meetings and session superseded by IAMG Annual Meetings. and exploration
3 1963 Stanford, CA Computers in the mineral
industries
University of Arizona College of Mines at Tucson, 4 1964 Golden, CO Applications of statistics,
AZ, in 1961 (Table A4). (The acronym APCOM was operations research, and
originated by the organizers of the 10th symposium in computers in the mineral
industries
Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1972.) The confer-
5 1965 Tucson, AZ Computers and computer
ences are organized by an informal council composed applications in mining and
of past and future hosts of the meeting. Jay C. Dotson exploration
was editor of a 2-volume proceedings entitled as a 6 1966 University Computers and operations
Short Course on ‘‘Computers and Computer Applica- Park, PA research in mineral industries
7 1968 Golden, CO Symposium on OR and computer
tions in the Mineral Industries.’’ Most of the papers in
applications in the mineral
this softback publication were concerned with an industries
introduction to computing and related problems, busi- 8 1969 Salt Lake A decade of digital computing in
ness and accounting, and applications in mining. The City, UT the mineral industries
IBM 650 was the machine used in the short course and 9 1970 Montreal, Techniques for decision-making in
Canada the mineral industries
SOAP the programming language. From this modest
10 1972 Johannesburg, Application of computer methods
beginning, the meetings expanded to their present-day South Africa in the mineral industries
international coverage. The second meeting was held 11 1973 Tucson, AZ Computer applications in the
the next year because of the success of the first meeting mineral industries
and again was held in Tucson. Subject matter included 12 1974 Golden, CO
13 1975 Clausthal, Application of computer and
in addition was papers on geostatistics, a subject which
Germany mathematics for decision-making
has been emphasized ever since. John C. Griffiths, in the mineral industries
Danie Krige, and George Koch and Dick Link were 14 1976 University
among those on the conference program. Park, PA
By 1963, the conference sponsorship was expand- 15 1977 Brisbane, Application of computers and
Australia operations research in the mineral
ed to include the Stanford University School of Earth
industries
Sciences. The subject matter was also expanded to 16 1979 Tucson, AZ
17 1982 Golden, CO Application of computers and
operations research in the mineral
Table A3
industry
IAMG Annual Meetings
18 1984 London, Application of computers and
1 1994 Mt. Tremblant, Quebec, Canada England mathematics in the mineral
2 1995 Osaka, Japan industries
3 1996 Beijing, Peoples Republic of China (in 19 1986 University
conjunction with 30th IGC) Park, PA
4 1997 Barcelona, Spain 20 1987 Marshalltown,
5 1998 Ischia, Italy Transval,
6 1999 Trondheim, Norway South Africa
7 2000 Rio de Janeiro, Brasil (in conjunction with 21 1989 Golden, CO
31st IGC) 22 1990 Berlin, Germany
8 2001 Cancun, Mexico 23 1992 Tucson, AZ Application of computers and
9 2002 Berlin, Germany operations research in the mineral
10 2003 Portsmouth, England industry
11 2004 Florence, Italy (in conjunction with the 32nd IGC)
86 D.F. Merriam / Earth-Science Reviews 67 (2004) 55–89
include petroleum. There were sessions on geophysics
and petroleum exploration and production. Paper were
presented by John P. Dowds, J.L. Morrison, Ed. L.
Dillon, John C. Griffiths, Robert L. Miller, D.F.
Merriam, John W. Harbaugh, Floyd W. Preston, Z.V.
Jizba, and D.R. Ojakangas.
In 1964, the Colorado School of Mines was the host
and numerous papers were included on geology and
geophysics. Back in Tucson for the 5th (1965) meet-
ing, they included sessions on Exploration, Exploita-
tion and Geology, and Exploration and Geophysics,
plus short courses, demonstrations, and exhibits. Fa-
miliar names showed up on the program including
DeVerle Harris, John W. Harbaugh, Floyd W. Preston,
Scott W. Hazen, Vaclav Nemec, Frits P. Agterberg,
John C. Griffiths, and Larry Drew. In 1966, the
meeting moved to the Pennsylvania State University
and some of the same participants were on the program
again including Krige, Agterberg, Griffiths, Harris,
and Harbaugh. The meetings went international with
the Johannesburg, South Africa meeting in 1972.
The publications, for the most part, are softback,
unedited, and author-prepared. However, they give a
good account of the development of computers and
computer applications in the mining industry espe-
cially. Certain names reoccur throughout the history of
the organization. Danie Krige and John C. Griffiths
both have been honored by the group for their support
and contributions during the years.
The meetings have emphasized geostatistiques in
all phases of the mining industry from an early time.
This is understandable because the subject was largely
developed by mining geologists and engineers from
the French School of Geostatistiques in Fontaine-
bleau, France. The very first meetings lacked geolog-
ical sessions, but in the late 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s,
there have been many sessions on geology, geophys-
ics, and exploration and development in both mining
and petroleum. Recent meetings, however, have not
emphasized these subjects.
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Daniel F. Merriam is a Senior Research Scientist (emeritus) with
the Kansas Geological Survey at the University of Kansas. He
received his BS, MS, and PhD from the University of Kansas, and
MSc and DSc from Leicester University (England). He was with
the KGS from 1953 to 1971, serving as Chief of Geologic
Research in his last position. From 1971 to 1981, he was the
Jessie Page Heroy Professor of Geology and head of the Depart-
ment of Geology at Syracuse University. In 1981, he returned to
Wichita State University as Endowment Association Distinguished
Professor of the Natural Sciences and chairman of the Department
of Geology and Geography. He rejoined the Survey in 1991 and
retired in 1997 but remains active. He has been a Visiting
Research Scientist at Stanford University, a Fulbright – Hays Se-
nior Research Fellow to the United Kingdom, Director of the
American Geological Institute’s International Field Institute to
Japan, an American Geological Institute’s Visiting Geological
Scientist, a Participant in Project COMPUTe, Dartmouth College,
an Esso Distinguished Lecturer at the University Sydney (Aus-
tralia), a Visiting Professor at the Centre d’Informatique Geo-
logique, Ecole des Mines de Paris (Fontainebleau), and a Visiting
Scientist at the GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam (Germany). His
interests are mainly in late Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic
stratigraphy in the Midcontinent area including petroleum geology,
plains-type folds and structural development of cratonic basins,
geothermics, Pennsylvanian cyclic sedimentation, computer appli-
cations in geology, spatial analysis, information studies and
dissemination, and history of geology.