Flood stage on the Chané river, in Santa Cruz department, Eastern Bolivia, January 1990.

THAT'S THE ONE WE SKIP

During an inspection visit to the Chané river, in Eastern Bolivia, in January of 1990, a colleague who taught at a Colombian university engaged me in conversation: "Ponce... What are you doing these days?"

I answered that I had recently completed a paper on the Vedernikov number.

Acknowledging his ignorance of the subject, he said, "The... what number?"

I retorted that he should know, since I understood that he taught Open-channel Hydraulics. Noting that he was still clueless, I added, "Don't you teach with Chow?" 1

To which he answered, "Yes, of course."

I then said, "Well, it is there... in Chow."

He said, "Where?"

To which I responded, "In Chapter 8..."

He then said, "Which one is that?

And I responded, "The one titled 'Theoretical Concepts...'"

Finding himself totally at a loss, he acknowledged with a grin, "Oh, yeah... that's the one we skip."


 1 Chow, V. T. 1959. Open-channel hydraulics. McGraw-Hill, New York; the standard text on the subject.