The well-known doctoral work of Shields is a tale that is frequently recoun
ted by many authors and has spawned a large, continuing body of research ov
er the last 60 years. Despite the success of Shields' work, the details of
his experimental methods and results as reported by others are quite variab
le. Inconsistencies and misconceptions regarding Shields' work are identifi
ed and examined here. Incomplete descriptions by Shields, loss of his origi
nal data, and Shields' postgraduate absence from the hydraulic engineering
community leave some of the identified inconsistencies open to debate.