'Engineering geology' is one of those terms that invite definition. The
American Geological Institute, for example, has expanded the term to
mean 'the application of the geological sciences to engineering practice
for the purpose of assuring that the geological factors affecting the
location, design, construction, operation and mainten- ance of
engineering works are recognized and adequately provided for'. It has
also been defined by W. R. Judd in the McGraw-Hill Encyclopaedia of
Science and Technology as 'the application of education and experience
in geology and other geosciences to solve geological problems posed by
civil engineering structures'. Judd goes on to specify those branches of
the geological or geo-sciences as surface (or surficial) geology,
structural/fabric geology, geohydro- logy, geophysics, soil and rock
mechanics. Soil mechanics is firmly included as a geological science in
spite of the perhaps rather unfortunate trends over the years (now
happily being reversed) towards purely mechanistic analyses which may
well provide acceptable solutions for only the simplest geology. Many
subjects evolve through their subject areas from an interdisciplinary
background and it is just such instances that pose the greatest
difficulties of definition. Since the form of educational development
experienced by the practitioners of the subject ulti- mately bears quite
strongly upon the corporate concept of the term 'engineering geology',
it is useful briefly to consider that educational background.