January/February 2023 - 90

pendently assess the significance of
these works. Notably, the authors also
recognized that such a citation-driven
procedure for selecting literature for
review would have limitations. The
number of times a geotechnical work
has been cited may reflect not its value
to the profession overall but either its
significance as judged by previous
geoprofessionals or its timing of publication
relative to the development of
a subdiscipline of the field. However,
the authors also reasoned that using an
element of historical judgment in
selecting geotechnical pieces for
review could address
these limitations at
least partially and, furthermore,
would tie the
procedure to the rest of
geo t echn i ca l eng i -
neering by making it
semi-empirical.
The authors used
may partly be due to Taylor 's and
Terzaghi's respective research outputs
as of 1948, by which time Taylor had
authored 11 works compared to 184 by
Terzaghi. Yet the citation counts suggest
that, while Taylor held Terzaghi's
work in high regard, the opposite may
not have been true.
Future Plans
Moving forward, the authors will
continue reviewing historical geotechnical
works and writing and
posting web entries on their findings.
They have recent ly agreed to a
their chosen metric of
citation counts, coupled
with historical judgment,
to shed some new
light on the disagreements
between Terzaghi
and his fellow geotechnical pioneer
Donald Taylor. This tension, already
described qualitatively by other geotechnical
history sources, appears to be
reflected quantitatively in the citation
totals for three prominent textbooks in
the field which appeared in the 1940s -
Theoretical Soil Mechanics by Terzaghi,
Soil Mechanics in Engineering Practice by
Terzaghi and Peck, and Fundamentals of
Soil Mechanics by Taylor. The references
within Taylor's book include 12 citations
of works authored or coauthored
by Terzaghi. By contrast, the combined
references in the two books Terzaghi
wrote or cowrote include just one
citation of work by Taylor. This disparity
Ultimately, the authors' main goal is to help
make the study of geotechnical history robust
and self-sustaining. They firmly believe that
work on this topic has the potential to positively
impact not only how the past of the profession
is told but also, and perhaps even more
importantly, where its future may lie.
partnership with the Geo-Institute
(G-I) of the American Society of Civil
Engineers through which the G-I will
post and publicize new articles
starting in early 2023. Looking further
ahead, the authors will also make
greater use of existing online tools
with potential applicability to research
on geotechnical history, most notably
Google Scholar.
The authors also aim to recruit
other geoprofess ional s in both
academia and practice to get involved
as they are able in studying the history
of geotechnical engineering. The
authors hypothesize that having a
larger geotechnical history community
will allow increasing numbers of geoprofessionals
to start and contribute to
discussions on which topics of
investigation related to the history of
the di scipl ine may benefi t the
profession most. The authors are also
currently pursuing support for geotechnical
history endeavors through
platforms provided by larger institutions
in the discipline, such as DFI
and G-I. If interest in geotechnical
history proves sufficiently widespread,
the authors, or perhaps their future
colleagues in exploring the subject,
may establish partnerships with
international institutions
in the profession, such as
the Institution of Civil
Engineers or the International
Society for Soil
Mechanics and Geotechnical
Engineering.
Ultimately, the authors'
main goal is to help make
the study of geotechnical
history robust and selfsustaining.
They firmly
believe that work on this
topic has the potential to
positively impact not only
how the past of the profession is told but
also, and perhaps even more importantly,
where its future may lie.
Michael Bennett, E.I.T., is a 2019 master's
graduate of the geotechnical program at
Virginia Tech, and currently works at
American Geotechnical and Environmental
Services in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.
Thomas Kennedy is a 2019 master's
graduate of the geotechnical program at
Virginia Tech, and currently works at
Geopier Foundation Company in Davidson,
North Carolina.
90 * DEEP FOUNDATIONS * JAN/FEB 2023
January/February 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January/February 2023
