Brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

Ralph Alger Bagnold, OBE, FRS, (3 April 1896 – 28 May 1990) was an English 20th-century desert explorer,

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

, and soldier. Bagnold served in the First World War as an engineer in the British Army. In 1932, he staged the first recorded East-to-West crossing of the

Libyan Desert The Libyan Desert (not to be confused with the Libyan Sahara) is a geographical region filling the northeastern Sahara Desert, from eastern Libya to the Western Desert (Egypt), Western Desert of Egypt and far northwestern Sudan. On medieval m ...

. His work in the field of

Aeolian processes Aeolian processes, also spelled eolian, pertain to wind activity in the study of geology and weather and specifically to the wind's ability to shape the surface of the Earth (or other planets). Winds may erosion, erode, transport, and deposit ...

was the basis for the book '' The Physics of Blown Sand and Desert Dunes'', establishing the discipline of aeolian geomorphology, combining field work observations, experiments and physical equations. His work has been used by United States' space agency

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

in its study of the terrain of the planet

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

, the Bagnold Dunes on Mars' surface were named after him by the organisation. He returned to the forces in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, in which he founded the behind-the-lines

reconnaissance In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ...

, and raiding unit the "

Long Range Desert Group The Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) was a reconnaissance and raiding unit of the British Army during the Second World War. Originally called the Long Range Patrol (LRP), the unit was founded in Egypt in June 1940 by Major Ralph Alger Bagnold, ...

", serving as its first commanding officer in the

North Africa campaign The North African campaign of World War II took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943, fought between the Allies and the Axis Powers. It included campaigns in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts (Western Desert campaign, Desert Wa ...

Early life

Bagnold was born in Devonport, England. His father, Colonel Arthur Henry Bagnold (1854–1943) (

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

), participated in the rescue expedition of 1884–85 to rescue General Gordon in

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum is the capital city of Sudan as well as Khartoum State. With an estimated population of 7.1 million people, Greater Khartoum is the largest urban area in Sudan. Khartoum is located at the confluence of the White Nile – flo ...

, Sudan. His sister was the novelist and playwright Enid Bagnold, who wrote the 1935 novel '' National Velvet''. After

Malvern College Malvern College is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging coeducational boarding school, boarding and day school in Malvern, Worcestershire, Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It is a public school (United Kingdom), public school ...

, he attended the

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of Officer (armed forces), commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers o ...

. In 1915, Ralph Bagnold followed in his father's footsteps and was commissioned into the Royal Engineers, after having graduated from the

. He spent three years in the trenches in France, being

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

in 1917 and receiving the Belgian Order of Leopold in 1919. After the war Bagnold studied engineering at

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, commonly known as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and ...

, obtaining an MA before returning to active duty with the British Army in 1920 with the

Royal Corps of Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communications an ...

. He served in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

and the North West Frontier, India, where he was again mentioned in dispatches. In both of these locations, he spent much of his leave exploring the local

deserts A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the l ...

. After having read Ahmed Hassanein's "Lost Oasis" he spent one such expedition in 1929 using a Ford Model A automobile and two Ford lorries exploring the vast swathe of desert from Cairo to Ain Dalla which was an area reputed to contain the mythical city of Zerzura. After a brief period of

half-pay Half-pay (h.p.) was a term used in the British Army and Royal Navy of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries to refer to the pay or allowance an officer received when in retirement or not in actual service. Past usage United Kingdom In the E ...

, he left the Army in 1935, but rejoined upon the outbreak of the Second World War.

Desert exploration

Bagnold and his travelling companions were early pioneers in the use of motor vehicles to explore the desert. In 1932 Bagnold explored the Mourdi Depression, in present-day

Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...

, and found implements dated to the

Palaeolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...

period in the valley. Bagnold wrote of his travels in the book '' Libyan Sands: Travel in a Dead World'' (first published 1935; reprinted by Eland in 2010). He is credited with developing a sun compass, which is not affected by magnetic iron ore deposits or by metal vehicles as a

magnetic compass A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with m ...

might be. During the 1930s his group also began the practice of reducing tyre

pressure Pressure (symbol: ''p'' or ''P'') is the force applied perpendicular to the surface of an object per unit area over which that force is distributed. Gauge pressure (also spelled ''gage'' pressure)The preferred spelling varies by country and eve ...

when

driving Driving is the controlled operation and movement of a land vehicle, including cars, motorcycles, trucks, and buses. A driver's permission to drive on public highways is granted based on a set of conditions being met, and drivers are required to ...

over loose sand. In addition Bagnold is credited with devising a method of driving over the large sand dunes found in the "sand seas" of the

. He wrote, "I increased speed. ... A huge glaring wall of yellow shot up high into the sky. The

lorry A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport freight, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructio ...

tipped violently backwards—and we rose as in a lift, smoothly without vibration. We floated up on a yellow cloud. All the accustomed

car A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...

movements had ceased; only the

speedometer A speedometer or speed meter is a gauge (instrument), gauge that measures and displays the instantaneous speed of a vehicle. Now universally fitted to motor vehicles, they started to be available as options in the early 20th century, and as ...

told us we were still moving fast. It was incredible ..." However, noted Fitzroy Maclean, "too much dash had its penalties. Many of the dunes fell away sharply at the far side and if you arrived at the top at full speed, you were likely to plunge headlong over the precipice. ... and end up with your truck upside down on top of you." A recently discovered

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

documents Bagnold's explorations and is available via the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

Second World War

Bagnold wrote, "Never in our peacetime travels had we imagined that war could ever reach the enormous empty solitudes of the inner desert, walled off by sheer distance, lack of water, and impassable seas of sand dunes. Little did we dream that any of the special equipment and techniques we had evolved for very long-distance travel, and for navigation, would ever be put to serious use." On 10 June 1940 Italy declared war on the United Kingdom in alliance with

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

while Bagnold was in Cairo due to an accident involving a troopship collision that he was on interrupting his journey elsewhere. Upon hearing the news and realizing that

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

was about to become a theatre of war, he requested an interview with General

Archibald Wavell Field Marshal Archibald Percival Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell, (5 May 1883 – 24 May 1950) was a senior officer of the British Army. He served in the Second Boer War, the Bazar Valley Campaign and the First World War, during which he was wounded ...

, Commander-in-Chief Middle East. Having secured it, Bagnold suggested that Wavell use his knowledge of the terrain in North Africa to establish a mobile scouting force for desert operations against the Italian Armed Forces in Libya, which Wavell was charged with defeating in the field. During the conversation Wavell asked Bagnold what he would do if he found that the Italians were not doing anything beyond the Libyan coast in the desert interior. Bagnold replied that the new unit that he had in mind might be able to commit "acts of piracy". Wavell granted Bagnold authority to form a unit along these lines, with it being constituted in July 1940 with the name

(L.R.D.G.). After assembling its first formation, Bagnold was the L.R.D.G.'s commanding officer until August 1941, when he handed over command to Guy Prendergast on being promoted to the post of Inspector of Desert Troops. In October 1941 he was promoted to the post of Deputy Signal Officer-in-Chief Middle East, with the

temporary rank Military ranks is a system of hierarchical relationships within armed forces, police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of La ...

and worked on camouflage and deception operations. He left after six months in March 1942, visiting Gaza, Brummana and Jerusalem (October 1942), Sudan and Eritrea (December 1942) and Turkey (May 1943 and August 1943) before returning to England in March 1944. On 7 June 1944 Bagnold retired from the British Army with the end of military operations in North Africa after the

Axis powers The Axis powers, originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis and also Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, was the military coalition which initiated World War II and fought against the Allies of World War II, Allies. Its principal members were Nazi Ge ...

' defeat in that theatre. and returned to his scientific interests, being elected to a Fellowship of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in the same year.

Later work

After the war Bagnold continued to work in the field of the geological science, and he published academic papers into his nineties. He made significant contributions to the understanding of desert terrain such as sand

dunes A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...

, ripples and sheets. He developed the dimensionless " Bagnold number" and " Bagnold formula" for characterising sand flow. He gave a constitutive relation for a suspension of neutrally buoyant particles in a Newtonian fluid. He also proposed a model for " singing sands". and made contributions to the science of

Sedimentology Sedimentology encompasses the study of modern sediments such as sand, silt, and clay, and the processes that result in their formation (erosion and weathering), transport, deposition and diagenesis. Sedimentologists apply their understanding of m ...

. His work received a number of awards. He was the 1969 recipient of the G. K. Warren Prize from the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

. In 1971 he received the Wollaston Medal, the highest award granted by the

Geological Society of London The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe, with more than 12,000 Fellows. Fe ...

, and in 1981 the David Linton Award of the British Geomorphological Research Group. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 1974. Other awards included the 1970 Penrose Medal by the

Geological Society of America The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences. History The society was founded in Ithaca, New York, in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hi ...

; and the Sorby Medal from the International Association of Sedimentologists. He also received honorary D.Sc. degrees from both the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...

and the Danish University of Aarhus.

Death

In his final years, Bagnold lived in Edenbridge in the county of

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

in England. He died at

Hither Green Hither Green is a district in south-east London, England, in the London Borough of Lewisham. It forms the southern part of Lewisham, 6.6 miles (10.6 km) south-east of Charing Cross, and on the Prime Meridian. Growing extensively with ...

on 28 May 1990 at the age of 94.

Personal life

Bagnold married Dorothy on 8 May 1946 at Rottingdean in

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

, and had a son and a daughter.

Honours and awards

Founder's Medal The Founder's Medal is a medal awarded annually by the Royal Geographical Society, upon approval of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom, to individuals for "the encouragement and promotion of geographical science and discovery". Foundation From ...

of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

, 1935 *

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

8 July 1941 *

Mentioned in Despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

2 January 1917, 1 September 1931, 30 December 1941 * Knight, Order of Leopold with palm (Belgium), 5 April 1919, etc.

List of publications

#Bagnold, R.A. 1931. Journeys in the Libyan Desert, 1929 and 1930.

The Geographical Journal ''The Geographical Journal'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal of the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers). It publishes papers covering research on all aspects of geography. It also publishes shorter ...

78(1):13–39; (6):524–533. #Bagnold, R.A. 1933. A further journey through the Libyan Desert. The Geographical Journal 82(2):103–129; (3):211–213, 226–235. #Bagnold, R.A. 1935. The movement of desert sand. The Geographical Journal 85(4):342–365. #Bagnold, R.A. 1935. Libyan Sands. London: Travel Book Club, 351 pp. #Bagnold, R.A. 1936. The movement of desert sand. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A 157(892):594–620. #Bagnold, R.A. 1937. The transport of sand by wind. The Geographical Journal 89(5):409–438. #Bagnold, R.A. 1937. The size-grading of sand by wind. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A 163(913):250–264. #Bagnold, R.A. 1938. Grain structure of sand dunes in relation to water content. Nature 142(3591):403–404. #Bagnold, R.A. 1938. The measurement of sand storms. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A 167(929):282–290. #Bagnold, R.A. 1939. A lost world refound. Scientific American 161(5, November):261–263. #Bagnold, R.A. 1939. Committee on wave pressures: interim report on wave-pressure research. Journal of the

Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a Charitable organization, charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters ar ...

12:201–226. #Bagnold, R.A., Myers, O.H., Peel, R.F. and Winkler, H.A. 1939. An expedition to the Gilf Kebir and 'Uweinat, 1938. The Geographical Journal 93(4):281–313. #Bagnold, R.A. 1940. Beach formation by waves: some model experiments in a wave tank. Journal of the Institute of Civil Engineers 15(5237):27–53. #Bagnold, R.A. 1941. The Physics of Blown Sand and Desert Dunes. London: Methuen, 265 pp. #Bagnold, R.A. 1945. Early days of the Long Range Desert Group. The Geographical Journal 105(1–2):30–42. #Bagnold, R.A. 1946. Motion of waves in shallow water. Interaction between waves and sand bottoms. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A 187:1–18. #Bagnold, R.A. 1947. Sand movement by waves: some small-scale experiments with sand of very low density. Journal of the Institute of Civil Engineers 27(5554):447–469. #Bagnold, R.A. 1951. Measurement of very low velocities of water flow. Nature 167:1025–1027. #Bagnold, R.A. 1951. The movement of a cohesionless granular bed by fluid flow over it. British Journal of Applied Physics 2(2):29–34. #Bagnold, R.A. 1951. Some problems of desert physics. Bulletin de l'Institut Fouad premier du désert 1(2):27–34. #Bagnold, R.A. 1951. The sand formations in southern Arabia. The Geographical Journal 117(1):78–86. #Bagnold, R.A. 1953. Navigating ashore. Journal of the Institute of Navigation 6:184–193. #Bagnold, R.A. 1953. Forme des dunes de sable et régime des vents. In: Actions éoliennes, phénomènes d'évaporation et d'hydrologie superficielle dans les régions arides, Centre national de la Recherche scientifique (CNRS), Paris, Colloques internationaux 35, pp. 23–32. #Bagnold, R.A. 1953. The surface movement of blown sand in relation to meteorology. In: Desert Research, Proceedings of the International Symposium, Jerusalem, 7–14 May 1952, Research Council of Israel, Special Publication 2, pp. 89–93. #Bagnold, R.A. 1954. Physical aspects of dry deserts. In: Cloudsley-Thompson, J.L. (ed). Biology of Deserts, Proceedings of a symposium held in London, 1952, Institute of Biology, London, pp. 7–12. #Bagnold, R.A. 1954. Experiments on a gravity-free dispersion of large solid spheres in a Newtonian fluid under shear. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A 225(1160):49–63. #Bagnold, R.A. 1955. Some flume experiments on large grains but little denser than the transporting fluid, and their implications. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers 4(3):174–205. #Bagnold, R.A. 1956. The flow of cohesionless grains in fluids. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London A 249(964):235–297. #Bagnold, R.A. 1960. The re-entrainment of settled dust. International Journal of Air Pollution 2(3):357–363. #Bagnold, R.A. 1960. Some aspects of shape of river meanders. United States Geological Survey, Professional Paper 282-E, pp. 135–144. #Bagnold, R.A. 1960. Sediment discharge and stream power; a preliminary announcement. US geol. Surv. Circular 421. #Leopold, L.B., Bagnold, R.A., Wollman, M.G. and Brush, L.M. 1960. Flow resistance in sinuous or irregular channels. United States Geological Survey, Professional Paper 282-D, pp. 111–134. #Bagnold, R.A. 1962. Saltation (air and water). In: Thewlis, J. (ed), Encyclopaedic dictionary of physics, Volume 6, Oxford: Pergamon Press, pp. 370–371. #Bagnold, R.A. 1962. Transport of sand by wind. In: Thewlis, J. (ed), Encyclopaedic dictionary of physics, Volume 7, Oxford: Pergamon Press, pp. 436–440. #Bagnold, R.A. 1962. Auto-suspension of transported sediment; turbidity currents. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A 265:315–319. #Bagnold, R.A. 1963. Beach and nearshore processes – Part 1, Mechanics of marine sedimentation. In: Hill, M.N. (ed.), The sea – ideas and observations on progress in the study of the sea. New York and London: Interscience Wiley, vol. 3, pp. 507–528. #Inman, D.L. and Bagnold, R.A. 1963. Beach and nearshore processes – Part 2, Littoral processes. In: Hill, M.N. (ed), The sea – ideas and observations on progress in the study of the sea. New York and London: Interscience Wiley, vol. 3, pp. 529–553. #Bagnold, R.A. 1966. The shearing and dilation of dry sand and the "singing" mechanism. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A 295(1442):219–232. #Bagnold, R.A. 1966. An approach to the sediment transport problem from general physics. United States Department of the Interior, US Geological Survey, Professional Paper 422-I, 37 pp. #Smith, W.O., Olsen, H.W., Bagnold, R.A. and Rice, J.C. 1966. Certain flows of air and water in sands during infiltrations. Soil Science 101(6):441–449. #Bagnold, R.A. 1968. Deposition in the process of hydraulic transport. Sedimentology 10(1):45–56. #Bagnold, R.A. 1971. Response to presentation of the 1970 Penrose Medal. Geological Society of America Bulletin 82:xiii-xvii. #Bagnold, R.A. 1971. Singing sands. In: Thewlis, J. (ed), Encyclopaedic dictionary of physics, Volume 4, Oxford: Pergamon Press, pp. 408–410. #Bagnold, R.A. 1973. The nature of saltation and of "bed-load" transport in water. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A 332(1591):473–504. #Bagnold, R.A. 1974. Fluid forces on a body in shear-flow: Experimental use of 'stationary flow'. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A 340(1621):147–171. #Sagan, C. and Bagnold, R.A. 1975. Fluid transport on Earth and aeolian transport on Mars. Icarus 26(2):209–218. #Bagnold, R.A. 1977. Bed load transport by natural rivers. Water Resources Research 13:303–312. #Bagnold, R.A. 1979. Sediment transport by wind and water. Nordic Hydrology 10(5):309–322. #Bagnold, R.A. 1980. An empirical correlation of bedload transport rates in flumes and natural rivers. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A 372(1751):453–473. #Bagnold, R.A. and Barndorff-Nielsen, O.E. 1980. The pattern of natural size distributions. Sedimentology 27(2):199–207. #Bagnold, R.A. 1983. The nature and correlation of random distributions. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A 388(1795):273–291. #Bagnold, R.A. 1985. Transport of granular solids by wind and water compared. In: Barndorff-Nielsen, O., Møller, J.-T., Rasmussen, K.R. and Willetts, B.B. (eds), Proceedings of the International Workshop on the Physics of Blown Sand, 28–31 May, University of Aarhus, Department of Theoretical Statistics, Institute of Mathematics, Memoir 8, pp. 1–8. #Bagnold, R.A. 1986. Transport of solids by natural water flow: evidence for a worldwide correlation. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A 405(1829):369–374. #Bagnold, R.A. 1988 Concluding remarks. In: Thorne, C.R., MacArthur R.C. and Bradley, J.B. (eds), The Physics of Sediment Transport, A Collection of Hallmark Papers by R. A. Bagnold. New York: American Society of Civil Engineers, Hydraulics Division, Book number 665, pp. 352–353. #Bagnold, R.A. 1990. Sand, Wind, and War; Memoirs of a Desert Explorer. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, , 202 pp.

References

External links

A short film containing an interview with R.A. BagnoldCatalogue of the papers and correspondence of Brigadier Ralph Alger Bagnold
held at

Churchill Archives Centre The Churchill Archives Centre (CAC) at Churchill College at the University of Cambridge is one of the largest repositories in the United Kingdom for the preservation and study of modern personal papers. It is best known for housing the papers ...

. The National Archives.
Imperial War Museum Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bagnold, Ralph A. 1896 births 1990 deaths Royal Engineers officers British Army personnel of World War I British Army generals of World War II Fellows of the Royal Society Wollaston Medal winners Order of Leopold (Belgium) Officers of the Order of the British Empire Military personnel from Devonport, Plymouth Process geomorphologists British fluid dynamicists Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge People educated at Malvern College Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Penrose Medal winners Sedimentologists Long Range Desert Group personnel Scientists from Plymouth, Devon British Army brigadiers of World War II