Davis, William Morris (1850–1934)

Davis and Coral Reefs

William Morris Davis (1850–1934) was the dominant figure in the development and codification of geomorphology (the science of the study of landforms and the processes that form them) from the last decades of the nineteenth century, responsible for the concept of the “cycle of erosion” whereby landforms pass progressively, irreversibly, and predictably through the stages of “youth”, “maturity”, and “old age”. Following his resignation from the Sturgis Hooper Professor of Geology at Harvard University in 1912 (where he was succeeded by R. A. Daly), his scientific focus became strongly reef-based; he published over 50 items on coral reefs between 1913 and 1934, including a major treatise, ‘The Coral Reef Problem’, published in 1928. Much of this work was desk-based and theoretical, but he...