During his expeditions into the Libyan Desert, Bagnold had been fascinated by the shapes of the sand dunes, and after returning to England he built a wind tunnel and conducted the experiments which are the basis of the book.
One pivotal observation was that the movement of sand, unlike that of dust, predominantly occurs near the ground, within a height of one metre, and was less influenced by large-scale eddy currents in the air.
His aim was to ensure that findings from controlled experiments mirrored real-world conditions, with verifications of these laboratory results conducted through field observations in the Libyan Desert in the late 1930s.
[5][8] The second stage, which Bagnold indicates is yet to be fully explored, delves into aeolian transport and the aerodynamics of airstreams as they navigate the curved surfaces of sand accumulations, hinting at the complexities of studying such natural systems.
He also emphasised the balance he attempted to strike between providing a rigorous scientific treatment, incorporating mathematical models and diagrams, while ensuring the content remained accessible to experts across diverse fields, from hydraulic engineering, to geophysics and geomorphology.