  The Korteweg-de Vries equation has a central place in a model for waves on
shallow water and it is an example of the propagation of weakly dispersive and
weakly nonlinear waves. Its history spans a period of about sixty years,
starting with experiments of Scott Russell in 1834, followed by theoretical
investigations of, among others, Lord Rayleigh and Boussinesq in 1871 and,
finally, Korteweg and De Vries in 1895.
  In this essay we compare the work of Boussinesq and Korteweg-de Vries,
stressing essential differences and some interesting connections. Although
there exist a number of articles, reviewing the origin and birth of the
Korteweg-de Vries equations, connections and differences, not generally known,
are reported.
