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Hard to get through, but exactly what I wanted: soil science, what, where, and why. College-level, detailed and technical.
I'm an agronomist.Here in Brazil, I read this book.This book is long and has many informations.Every agronomist must read, a book such as this.At least in ediction that I read, this book has a big failure.This book is weak about tropical soils.For american reality, I think this book deserves 5 stars.Well, I live in Brazil.I'll give four stars for it.
It is peppered with fascinating sidebars. If you have been assigned a soils text for a class, do not go with the abridged version of this, Elements of the Nature and Properties of Soils.
If you plan to continue studies in the natural sciences, you will want this unabridged version. It is 1/2 the book for 3/4 of the price (and at discounters the books are priced identically).
This is the 13th edition of a text that has been the standard in this field for 84 years. Even after I moved on to advanced coursework in soils, I found myself referring back to this.
It's indispensable. Its durability lies in its solid information; clear presentation; and graphics that are as rich as they are numerous.
You can dip into it as a reference and find just what you need (assuming you have a foundation in soil science).
I really think that you can't go wrong with this book, if you want to know about soil (be warned: it doesn't really cover soil microbiology, the living aspect of soil - I'd recommend the book by Robert Tate III; the copy I have is Soil Microbiology 2nd Ed. I first bought this book when we bought a property with trashed-out soil. It's just really well done. (c) 2000)With that said - I've gone through other books but haven't found one that I'd compare to this one. I've since grown attached to this book, which I find myself referring to. It's clearly written, well organized, and covers so much information.
The third time I said: "I have to have my own copy." The 13th edition is now on its way. The first time I ran into this book was at the public library, while serching reference material for my daughter's science project. I found the book so helpful that I checked it out again for my own use.
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