We've straightened and dredged rivers, revetted and rerouted them, made massive efforts to control them, yet our actions have been less than successful. Too often, physical changes made to a river conflict with natural processes, resulting in - rather than alleviating - damage. Applying available knowledge on how rivers form and act could prevent such problems. Widely regarded as the most creative scholar in the field of river morphology, Luna Leopold presents a coherent description of the river, its shape, size, organisation, and action, along with a consistent theory that explains much of the observed character of channels.