From engineering to hydrology
Langbein attended evening classes at Cooper Union while working in construction, earning his civil engineering degree in 1931. He joined the U.S. Geological Survey in Albany in 1935 and soon moved to its national headquarters, where he continued as a research engineer and senior scientist.
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The processes behind flow records
Alongside statistical approaches to floods, he studied evaporation from small stock ponds on the Navajo Reservation and from Lake Mead. He also investigated infiltration in stream channels and its effects on flood-wave passage, connecting measured water quantities with the processes producing them.
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Designing observation networks
During the International Hydrologic Decade of 1965–1974, Langbein emphasized the value of hydrological data for water-resources development. His work helped develop scientific approaches to network design, examining the information supplied by observations rather than treating more stations or longer records as ends in themselves.
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Research and public water issues
Langbein coauthored Floods with W. G. Hoyt in 1955 and worked with Luna Leopold to advance a national water-resources research programme. His work linked physical processes, interpretation of records and the knowledge required for management decisions.
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