Misconceptions

Abstract

Looking over the research presented in this book, we realize that some in the porous media community will find its implications difficult to accept. Two challenging implications stand out: (1) many concepts that are believed to be understood are actually erroneous, and are hindering progress, and (2) the feeling that some issues are unfathomably complex has caused many to retreat to application-specific empirical models, rather than seeing and addressing the underlying complexity. But our research, with over 9000 comparisons of theory and measurement detailed in this book, shows that some established concepts should be replaced, and that complexity can be addressed. In that light, here we summarize some misconceptions that we believe are retarding progress in studies of porous media. A few of these have recently been published [2], but this broader summary is new. © 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland.