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In the early 1990s, a Navy officer went through our graduate program in civil engineering. One day, I met him outside of the Engineering Building, and he greeted me warmly and asked: "Prof. Ponce, good to see you. What are you doing these days?" I mentioned to him that I had recently published a paper on the subject of free-surface instability.1 Being a practical man, he said: "That's new stuff, isn't it?" I said, proudly: "Sure, otherwise it would not have been published." He added: "Well, if it is new, it has not been tested; and if it has not been tested, it cannot be used." I sensed he had a point, but I had no ready answer for him. 1 Ponce, V. M., and P. J. Porras. 1995. Effect of cross-sectional shape on free-surface instability. ASCE Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, Vol. 121, No. 4, April. | ||
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