Chorley, Richard (1927–2002)

Richard John Chorley was a transformative figure in late-20th-century geomorphology. Trained in geography at Oxford University, it was his experience in geology at Columbia University that truly sparked his numerous innovations. At Columbia, he was a student in the Arthur N. Strahler research group that produced so many stellar contributors to modern geomorphology. After brief stints as a junior faculty member in the United States, Chorley returned to Britain and pursued the remainder of his illustrious career at Cambridge University.

Chorley contributed to geography, geomorphology, and environmental sciences in both discrete and overlapping ways that may be seen as occupying at least four spheres. He was a central figure in fundamentally changing geomorphology from the qualitative discipline dominated by the Davisian erosional model. He was a prominent historian of geomorphology and its development. His methodological contributions to geomorphology were so fundamental and his interests so broad that they spilled over into geography at large, as well as into areas such as environmental science. Finally, his interest in teaching, coupled with his historical interests, led to many publications, including very successful books and professional journals (e.g., Progress in Geography, which eventually morphed into two journals of similar name).

While Chorley's early publications included direct challenges to Davisian geomorphology and introduction of discrete quantitative techniques (e.g., the lemniscate), he is best known for his comprehensive approach to quantification, which is most clearly seen in his lifelong advocacy of modeling and systems approaches to science. His particular approach to systems—championing the general systems theory of Ludwig von Berta-lanffy—has been criticized, sometimes correctly and sometimes incorrectly; however, there is no question that its overall thrust transformed every disciplinary sphere that Chorley sought to influence, especially geomorphology.

By far the most comprehensive history of geomorphology, and one of the most incisive, is the [Page 404]series of four tomes authored by Chorley and other contributors. These volumes span the discipline from its inchoate origins to its present form. Interrupted by Chorley's untimely death, the final volume published in late 2008.

Finally, Richard Chorley contributed mightily to the teaching of the discipline, especially in the early stages of its present modern quantitative form, through innumerable texts, papers, oral presentations, workshops, and conferences.