William Morris Davis

Who was William Morris Davis?

William Morris Davis was an American geographer, geologist, geomorphologist, and meteorologist, often called the "father of American geography".

He was born into a Quaker family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, son of Edward M. Davis and Maria Mott Davis. He graduated from Harvard University in 1869 and received a Master of Engineering in the following year.

He then worked in Córdoba, Argentina for three years, then after working as an assistant to Nathaniel Shaler, he became an instructor in geology at Harvard, in 1879. He married Ellen B. Warner of Springfield, Massachusetts in the same year.

His most influential scientific contribution was the cycle of erosion, first defined around 1884, which was a model of how rivers create landforms. His cycle of erosion suggests that rivers have three main sections: upper course, middle course, and lower course - each of which has distinct landforms and other properties associated with it.

Though it was a crucial early contribution to geomorphology, many of Davis' theories regarding landscape evolution, sometimes known as Davisian geomorphology, have been heavily criticized by modern geomorphologists. Also criticized were his tendency to go after and discredit geomorphologists who disagreed with his ideas and methods. In fact, until he retired, he had the study of landscape evolution almost monopolized.