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Abstract:
Robert E. Horton (1875-1945) had a prolific career in hydrology with an estimated contribution of ~200 works (papers, reports and commentaries). In the last few decades, independent works by scientists led to curation of bibliographies that include ~80-135 of his works. In our recent work (2022), we consolidated and extended the available bibliographies to create a more comprehensive one of 168 works. These works span a wide range of subjects, which can be classified into applied physics (process understanding of evaporation, runoff, precipitation, groundwater), applied mathematics (probability, calculus), engineering (hydraulic design, flow regulation, reservoir operation), and management (economics, policy, and social science). Our goal is to: 1) summarize the 168 works and extend the bibliography; 2) comb through the 168 works to identify subject themes, their volume and density; 3) link them to the 94 archive boxes held in the U.S. National Archive in Maryland where Horton’s unpublished works are held; 4) quantify untapped scientific potential in various subjects, especially by identifying his major monographs and unfinished works; 5) trace his scientific inspirations to scientists of the preceding centuries, especially those scientists whose voluminous works Horton evidently studied in-depth, e.g. Paolo Frisi from Italy (1700s) for Hydro-geomorphology; and John Dalton (1800s) and Geoffrey. I. Taylor (1900s) for Evaporation. We surmise that much of Horton’s work is still to be discovered for its inspirational and entertaining value, as well as the remarkable predictive accuracy of his theories, which calls for renewed attention to his diverse contributions.
