The quantification of geology: from abacus to Pentium: A chronicle of people, places, and phenomena

The geological profession has only recently become numerically literate but highly so in a relatively short time. Mathematics was applied to geological problems mostly in the fields of hydrology, engineering geology, and geophysics until the past few decades. Statistics were used by sedimentologists and paleontologists to describe populations with some univariate, bivariate, and multivariate statistics used by a few avant garde workers. Geocomputing really started in the 1960s but the slow start became an avalanche in the 1980s with the introduction of microcomputer [personal computer (PC)]. The trend towards increasing quantification of the discipline is noticeable, and in recent years, this trend has been accelerating. There is seemingly no limit to the information and communication revolution.