Product Description
This book provides a professional text for undergraduate and graduate agricultural and biological engineering students interested in soil and water conservation in rural and urban areas.Subject matter includes all the engineering phases of soil and urban areas.Subject matter includes all the engineering phases of soil and water conservation for a one or two semester course.The authors assume that the student has a basic knowledge of calculus, surveying, mechanics, hydraulics, soils, and computers.The analytical approach is emphasized and is supplemented by sufficient field data to illustrate practical applications.The text emphasizes engineering principles in the areas of erosion, drainage,irrigation, and water resources.Tables, charts, and diagrams have been included to provide practicing engineers with readily usable information as well.Many examples and problems are included to emphasize the design principles and to facilitate an understanding of the subject matter.Computer models and software program sources have been described where applicable in the text as well as access to some computer programs and models.In many instances, students will find using a spreadsheet advantageous for reviewing example problems and solving homework problems. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Good Book
Good reference, middle of the road in terms of required knowledge (not basic, but not reference only).A little light on some topics, but good overall.

a book to have for environmental engineers
used this book for my water resources engineering class in college. Now, its in my reference shelve at work.

Good book, but needs more information
This book is a good reference for those who works on erosion and sediment control.Needs more information concerning the type of construction necessary for erosion control, because this book touches this subjectfaintly.I rate it 4 stars because all other information is coveredextensively and clear.My interest in this book was for erosion control,but when I tried to look for the information, I was dissapointed.Butcomparing this book to other similar references, this is the best you canever find. ... Read more

Product Description
This unique manual guides users step-by-step through the hows and whys of the most commonly used testing methods in civil engineering practice—those based on the latest American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM).The book uses a consistent “Procedure,” “Data,” and “Calculations” format for each test; contains completely worked examples showing the computations required for the analysis and evaluation of the test data collected; discusses what data, results, and other information should be presented in the test report; and explains what the test results will be used for in practical engineering problems. Blank data reporting forms and graph papers are provided for most tests, and an accompanying CD-ROM contains state-of-the-art, user-friendly software for compiling test data, performing calculations, plotting curves, and obtaining final results.For individuals interested in a construction or civil engineering technology career. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A useful book
I was a TA for Soil-Lab while I was not even a geotechnical graduate student. This book has lots of details (sometimes overwhelmingly) and undergrad students may have difficulties to find basic steps toward some tests. In addition, I couldn't find data sheet files to print them out for students' use and I had to carbon-copy the pages from the book.
All in all, it is a professional book, not just an educational over-simplified textbook.

What do I do with the information?
I bought this book because it was the required lab manual for a Soils Testing Class at the University I attend.The authors went into great detail in describing each lab and all the equipment used to perform thetests.However, as a student I would have hoped to know how to decipherthe results of the test to come up with a useable solution to apply to reallife construction applications. For example, if I find during a test thatmy soil is non plastic, how can I find out what kind of foundation to useto build a structure on the soil?I feel like the chapters should havegone at least one step further in their explanations. ... Read more

Product Description
The Soil and Health was published in 1945, just before agricultural corporations surged to global proportions. Sir Albert Howard's work is a major inspiration to the growing organic and sustainable farming movement and a thought-provoking reminder of a road not taken in developing mainstream agriculture during the past half-century.

The central tenet of Howard's philosophy is that healthy soil, vegetation, animals, and humans are connected and that undernourishment of soil is the source of modern agricultural and health problems. In Howard's estimation, heavy reliance on chemical fertilizers will ultimately lead to widespread disease and destruction of vibrant communities. As the environmental and social consequences of industrial farming are being hotly debated, The Soil and Health remains vital to understanding what is at stake in the battle between chemical and organic farming. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

This book does not have $ value---it is PRICELESS, beyond any price
[[ASIN:0813191718 The Soil and Health: A Study of Organic Agriculture (Culture of the Land)]

Robert Rodale dedicated the September,1948 issue of ORGANIC GARDENING as a memorial to Albert Howard .I made this note from that issue, "The purpose of this book is threefold:to record my own observations and reflections, which have accumulated during some forty-five years, on the occurance and prevention of disease, to establish the thesis that most disease can be traced to am impoverished soil, which leads to imperfectly synthesized protein in the green leaf and finally to the breakdown of those protective arrangements which Nature has designed for us." Howard's preface.

Also from my notes, "The quality of our food and health decreases each year.In 1995the USA ranked 17th in life expectancy, in 10000 we ranked 24th.Countries are not ranked 17th in life expectancy on the internet at WHO Statistical Information System.Dr. Christopher Murray, MD,PhD of Who has this to say,"Basically you die earlier and spend more time sidabled if you are an American rather than a member of most other developed countries"

A God bless you to Wendell Barry for your introduction.I am still haunted by your UNSETTLING OF AMERICA;CULTURE AND AGRICULTURE which I read many years ago.

For the Agriculturally Literate
As a long time reader of Wendell Berry, I have been fascinated to read this book that Berry claims to have influenced his thinking to such a great extent. Sir Albert Howard is a wonderful science writer, able to lucidly explain complicated biological processes and marshall all of his observations in the service of a coherent argument about our relationship to nature. I see deep truth in this book, and an approach to scientific thinking that never loses site of our unavoidable ignorance or our ultimately spiritual destiny.

Why does soil matter? Read this first
Jared Diamond and others have written about how civilizations have destroyed themselves by exploiting their soils. Sir Albert Howard said the same thing, but he said it 100 years ago. Howard was the father of the modern organic, holistic farming movement. This book is incredibly readable and will change how you think about food, soil, and the fate of civilization.

Great Early Book on Organic Agriculture
The Soil and Health is a wonderful book that is equal parts agricultural science and environmental advocacy, with just a dash of kooky Nature worship thrown in.Howard was a conventionally trained agricultural scientist in the late 19th and early to mid 20th century who was employed by the British government to bring modern industrial agriculture, based on chemical fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides and herbicides to Britain's tropical colonies.Soon, though, he realized the value of more traditional agricultural practices from India and China, especially in keeping the microbial, fungal and invertebrate life in the soil healthy.

If you believe in the value of organic agriculture, it is somewhat sad to see how little has changed since 1945.Howard confidently predicts in his book that organic methods based on compost would soon sweep the globe.Things have changed some, though.We can now buy "organic" labeled products in most markets in America, and I believe that more people have an appreciation for the importance of treating the earth well.This book does an excellent job of establishing and reinforcing that appreciation. ... Read more

Product Description
Explores the principles & properties of soils & their physical, chemical & biological characteristics.Forest, rangeland, agricultural areas, wetlands, deserts, & constructed ecosystems are vividly used in describing processes & properties. DLC: Soil science. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

technical, detailed
College-level, detailed and technical. Hard to get through, but exactly what I wanted: soil science, what, where, and why.

An excellent 'get started' book and bookshelf reference book
We use Brady for teaching Intro to Soil Science - It is an excellent resource and one that I tell students they will be able to refer to with a soils question whatever their field of study.

A good book of general Soil Science
It's a good book for someone who has just started exploring Soil Science for it goes through all the aspects of soil from structure and hudraulics to fertility and pollution.

This book is used as the course text for Intro to Soils @ UC
This book is an excellent resource for anyone interested or majoring in soil science.It provides the basis for soil morphology and introduces some soil chemistry concepts. It is recommended without reservation. ... Read more

Product Description
This clear, concise text provides a user-friendly introduction to the most current civil engineering and highway construction materials. It covers the essentials of highway construction technology without getting bogged down with complicated mathematics, excess theory, or difficult language.Topics covered in this book include soils, aggregates, pavement structure and base, asphalt pavements and materials, and Portland Cement Concrete, as well as Stone Matrix Asphalt, admixtures, and whitetopping.For civil engineers, those in highway construction, construction materials dealers, and soil mechanics. ... Read more

Product Description
Soil Biology PrimerAuthors:Dr. Elaine Ingham Andrew R. Moldenke & Clive A. EdwardsLimited Availibility online. Buy it here NOW!!For farmers, ranchers, ag professionals, resource specialists, conservationists, soil scientists, students and educators. The Soil Biology Primer is an introduction to the living component of soil and how it contributes to agricultural productivity, and air and water quality. The Primer includes units describing the soil food web and its relationship to soil health, and units about bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes, arthropods, and earthworm ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Good Information
This book explains soil biology well. However, there are several really good books on this subject that go into more detail and are less expensive. At 48 pages, it is really more of a magazine size.Teaming with Microbes: The Organic Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web, Revised Edition

The basics -- perfectly clear
This book would fit in many types of classrooms from elementary science to
applied biology.I originally read it to get background on organic horticulture. I now use its excellent charts and illustrations to show my clients why the products from Urban Worms Organics work so well.

soil biology
excellent reference and for teaching. Great photos and text. This a full view of life in our soil and their relationships. Very readable. ... Read more

Product Description
One of the primary references on analytical methods in soil science, Part 2 of the Methods series will be useful to all biogeoscientists, especially those with an interest in microbiology or bioremediation.

Also available:

Methods of Soil Analysis. Part 4. Physical Methods - ISBN 089118841X
Minerals in Soil Environments, 2nd Edition - ISBN 0891187871
Soil Testing and Plant Analysis, Third Edition - ISBN 0891188444

The American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America are prominent international scientific societies headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin. The Societies specialize in peer-reviewed, high-quality science titles for a wide variety of audiences.
Some of the many areas we publish in include:

-Soils Methods and Management
-Crop Development and Improvement
-Agrosystem Management and the Global Food Crisis
-Environmental Conservation and Climatology ... Read more

Product Description

The book reviews recent developments and research results on excavations and foundations found in and on soft soil deposits. It gives an overview of the material properties of soft soils and offers new foundation improvement techniques in road and railways. It also examines different types of foundations and stabilization methods. The book will serve both practicing and research engineers in the field of geotechnical engineering.

Customer Reviews (2)

Better Soil
Soil is the cornerstone to less pests and more nutritious foods from the garden; therefore, this book is truly an asset.

A great book
If you're seriously into gardening organically (the real organic
gardening where you care for the soil rather than just
dumping on organic fertilizer instead of chemical
fertilizer) - I recommend this book; I learned a lot.It covers
different types of soils and what to so with them, additives
and green manures, cultivation; it's very readable.It's a bit
dated-looking but the information is sound.It spends more
time than I'd like suggesting how to identify good land
before you buy it. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (2)

Healthy Soils for Sustainable Gardens
I recently took a class on Soils of the Piedmont and found that much of the information we learned in that class is contained in this book.This book covers soil from the formation of soil to the types of soils, texture, structure, horizons from surface to bedrock, organisms in the soil, pH, as well as chemical reactions in different types of soils.The book covers the challenges of problem soils and some recommendations to help with them.I am a Master Composter and I know soil is the most important aspect for raising beautiful, healthy plants.This is a great reference book for any gardeners library.

Compact, Comprehensive
Healthy Soils for Sustainable Gardens is a great book for urban gardeners. Whether a beginner, or a veteran wishing to round out her/his knowledge of organic, sustainable gardening, the reader will find practical guidelines for creating, improving and maintaining garden soil. The photos are great, and appropriately illustrate techniques, conditions and examples.
So much of successful gardening begins with the soil, yet we're enticed by marketers of chemicals to believe that their products are the key to bountiful crops and gorgeous blooms. In fact, the knowledge and materials to provide an ideal home for our plants are available free and originate largely from our own yards and kitchens! The Brooklyn Botanical Gardens series of books are ideal companions for new and established gardeners. Love this book! ... Read more

Product Description
Healthy Foods from Healthy Soils invites you and your students to discover where food comes from, how our bodies use food, and what happens to food waste. You’ll participate in the ecological cycle of food production > compost formation > recycling back to the soil, while helping children understand how their food choices affect not only their own health, but farmers, the environment, and your local community.

Elizabeth and Kathy use simple concepts and fun activities to show children the big picture—how quality soil is the basis of nutritious foods, and how eating a variety of wholesome foods leads to healthy bodies. Their program enhances existing curricula through methods that include writing, art, scientific investigation, music, and puppetry. Suggested resources encourage you to adapt the program to your needs, small scale or large. For instance, the activity "What If All I Ate Were Potato Chips?" encourages children to investigate the nutritional value of foods, while a seed-sprouting experiment "teaches through the taste buds." School gardens such as an Appetizer Garden or the legendary Three Sisters, or a series of classroom worm-composting activities help students discover the role nutrients play in healthy plant production. Handy extension activities demonstrate ways that students can help effect change in their own lives and communities. Background information, suggested readily available materials, and clear instructions give you enough guidance to integrate these activities into your classroom right away.

This manual grew out of a successful pilot program funded by the USDA. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Forty-Five Great Lessons for Kids about Healthy Foods and Soils
Healthy Foods from Healthy Soils
Elizabeth Patten and Kathy Lyons
Tilbury House, Gardiner, Maine, 2003
Large paperback; $19.95

Elizabeth Patten and Kathy Lyons, with illustrator Helen Stevens, have created a superb book that every K-6 teacher should see and use. Sections include: Where Does Food Come From? Choosing Food for Body & Soul; Putting "Garbage" to Work; and Let's Grow Our Own. Together, the sections clearly present 45 hands-on "lessons" and activities about the importance of agriculture, nutrition and recycling in our lives. Children learn about the power that their food choices have on their health, on local farmers, on the environment and the community by making puppets, keeping food diaries, growing food in their schools, creating model digestive tracts, vermicomposting, and more.

Patten is a Maine dietitian and health educator who lives with her family and several thousand red wigglers. Lyons, also from Maine, is an environmental educator and puppeteer who has created `Annelida,' the worm puppet for a recycling program and the "spokesworm" for the lessons in this book. The lessons that they have created in Healthy Foods from Healthy Soils are keyed to the Benchmarks for Science Literacy and come with links to children's literature and Internet resources. The excellent illustrations throughout the book are designed to entertain children and to help teachers visualize projects.

One lesson asks young children to pretend to be a vegetable or fruit seed. As the teacher reads a story about the life of a seed, from its time in the garden to its germination, growth, fruiting and right through to seed saving in the fall, students act out these stages. The writing brings this lesson to life. "...you aren't the only one down here in this healthy soil!" the teacher will read. "Earthworms are squirming around on their way to find food..."

Another lesson has third to sixth graders map the sources of the food they eat, demonstrating how far food travels to reach them; suggesting a trip to a local market to learn about the origins of foods; and making a regional food guide to the students' area. The authors suggest organizing a "local foods" party in the classroom; inviting a local farmer to talk about his or her job and products; finding out whether the cafeteria serves local food; and encouraging students to check clothing as well as food labels, since fiber is an important agricultural commodity. A table lists eight reasons for supporting a local food system.

A lesson on whole foods helps third through sixth graders differentiate between processed and unprocessed foods and includes language arts, health, math and life skills. One activity suggests that students survey the foods in their home kitchens and count the number of products that contain the top two food additives, sugar and sodium. A "Dollars and $ense" lesson has fifth and sixth graders calculate and compare prices of foods based on the nutrients in them.

This book could be the basis of a core class for children about one of the most important aspects of their lives: eating. The authors note that two or three generations ago, people were connected to the origin of their food and understood the connection between healthy soils and nourishing foods. "Now that so many of us are living with the health consequences of being a `fast-food nation,' a program that addresses these issues in a lively and enjoyable manner is vital," say the authors. Readerscould ensure this vitality by purchasing this book for their local schools and libraries.

Jean English, Editor
The Maine Organic Farmer & Gardener ... Read more

Product Description
Translated from the Russian by R. S. Townsend ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Essential reading; Russian social history as a literary novel
While I'm unable to compare Turgenev's Russian with Constance Garnett's English translation--lucky those who know both languages--I would agree that Garnett's version is at times banal and lackluster.Perhaps the problem is that while the characters's dilemmas have become familiar (because of 20th-century Soviet history), the characters's turbulent inner dramas, the emotions, seldom catch fire on the page.And I don't know if the characters's lives are more exciting in Turgenev's original; however, I would not expect a novel published in 1877 to have the same appeal in 2008, when the heat of the era is long past.What's very familiar, and why this novel is essential reading for an understanding of the literature of the past 140 years, is that Turgenev illustrates the conflicts of men and women in their nation-building struggle.(This plot design, and the cast of characters, is probably what interested Constance Garnett's readers of her 1890 translation up to at least the 1930s.)

(Please read on, but my apologies to all: I don't yet know how to write a short review.)

We have met Turgenev's women and men before: the jingo-patriot imperialist, Tsarist landowner; the politically liberal but socially conservative landowner and his pampered, gossipy, social-climbing wife; the impulsive, hot-headed rebel; the artist-poet who would like to be a revolutionist but is more suited to writing lyrically by candlelight; and the even-tempered rational, physically attractive female rebel who, as a sign of her dedication to the cause, rejects the bourgeois marriage pact; then, not least, the ignorant, retrograde peasants, the silent factory workers, and the hard-pressed, abused man of "anonymous Russia" who must blend into the urban jungle.

But Virgin Soil is literature.Turgenev did not write with a template of socialist realism; this is not a "how to" novel on creating democracy in a system that knows only Tsarist imperialism.But, the central dilemma which Turgenev created has not changed: what should the well-meaning, educated person do when she or he is caught between two extremes?The author set up the plot of the novel by identifying himself with--and perhaps many readers will, too--the central consciousness of the novel: Alexey Dmitrievitch Nezhdanov, "the Hamlet of Russia," the educated, peace-loving poet, born out of wedlock to a Russian aristocrat.

Highly recommended: Henry James's novel, same theme but set in London, The Princess Casamassima, published in 1886.James had met Turgenev in Paris and knew the plot of Virgin Soil, and perhaps James read a French translation.But Henry James makes his characters come alive on the page: they are part and parcel of their personal and political predicaments.There's a paradox here: According to Constance Garnett and her circle, Henry James was old stuff, an old fuddy-duddy; but James was able to make the reader feel the bite of poverty, the pain of ignorance, and the tragedy of betrayal.Henry James focused on the people he created--the characters's differing levels ofawareness--and, as a result, he achieved a more dynamic blending of plot and character.Certainly, The Princess Casamassima is a more cunning and cutting picture of plot and counter-plot, a behind-the-scenes look at the role of the individual in nation building.Also read Edmund Wilson's narrative non-fiction masterpiece on the rise of socialism in Europe, To the Finland Station (1940).

GARNETT UNFAIR TO TURGENEV
"Virgin Soil" (1877) was Turgenev's last, longest, but far from greatest novel. A recurring theme through all his fiction is the contrast between the romantic Russian liberalism of the 1840s, which Turgenev regarded as ineffectual, and the hard-headed populism of the 1860s and 70s. After the 1861 emancipation of the serfs (some 80% of Russia at the time), University students wanted to "go to the people" and enlighten them. When they got there, they found an unbridgeable chasm between the middle class and rural workers, who suspiciously had agitators arrested. Many of these spent years in solitary confinement, and the bitterness of their thwarted hopes for reform poisoned Russian politics and made violent revolution more likely. "Virgin Soil" begins with one such cell of radicals in St. Petersburg in 1868, and follows them to the countryside where they interact with both liberal and reactionary gentry, as well as with clear-headed Bolsheviks of the future. Little happens, and the thin, drawn-out plot lacks the economy, texture, and pungency of "Fathers and Sons." This is a decidedly second-drawer effort. To make matters worse, New York Review Books has reissued it in the incompetent, hackwork translation of Constance Garnett (1862-1946), presumably because it was in the public domain. I cannot judge her handling of Russian (though Nabokov did: "dried dung," he called her work) but her English is not even professional: NYRB could have spent some of the money they saved on a free translation by hiring a line editor to correct her egregious errors in syntax, grammar, and punctuation.It might have been better having no edition of "Virgin Soil" on the market at all.

More Russian Nihilism
"To turn over virgin soil it is necessary to use a deep plough going well into the earth, not a surface plough gliding lightly over the top."-From a Farmer's Notebook.
Virgin Soil, by Ivan Sergevich Tugenev, is another Russian revolutionist novel.The dubious main character, Nejdanov, is a young poet who tries to help spread the socialistic propaganda to the poor peasants.They must dig deep into the mother earth of Russia to plant the seeds of communism.Nejdanov is accused of being a traitor and gives useless speeches, while his lover, Marianatries desperately to get him to accept her.Markelov, an older member of the cause, goes to the extreme to arm the peasants and start a revolution and is locked up.Solomin (the real hero), is a cool minded, patient revolutionist who thinks of the peasants as barn animals.He is Turgenev'sideal insurgent.While the main character, Nejdanov is described as, "...the idealist of realism".The book ends with death and imprisonment and an overall unhappy feeling.
Not the most exciting read, just another Russian novel full of depressing nihilist and revolutionist.Tugenev's other great work, Fathers and Sons, is a far more interesting novel, and I highly recommend it.

explanations of all sorts only lead to confusion
This is the third of Ivan Turgenev's novels that I have read. He is such a wonderful novelist that the things I dislike about some of his female characters (he must have had SUCH a tough time of it!) tends to get obscured. Surely there can't be women in the world that manipulative and self-obsessed! But I'll avoid the risk of confusing things - yes, the title of my review is a quote - and just mention that there are nice women in each of the novels that I have read, as well as the less attractive, but ever so alluring ones.

Common to all three Turgenev novels that I have read is rejection - rejection of women by men. But the rejection has nothing to do with the men thinking the women are inadequate. It is the men who see themselves as unworthy and, for me with my Western eyes, their 'reasons' are SO tenuous. And yet, for all that I do see the 'sense' in it - I have seen the world in the same way myself.

The outcome for me of this novel was unsatisfactory for another reason that I will not attempt to explain. But it is understandable for me why this outcome was plotted by the author - unlike that of DH Lawrence in another book I reviewed recently.

Perhaps Joseph Conrad is correct in 'Under Western Eyes' and those of us with Western eyes will never really understand the Russian - I have certainly tried both personally and in literature. And I have to say I am floundering a bit. Nevertheless, for the sheer joy of reading a brilliantly crafted novel I unreservedly recommend 'Virgin Soil'.

Other recommendations:
'Memoirs of a Revolutionist' by Peter Kropotkin
'Fathers and Sons' by Ivan Turgenev
'Spring Torrents' by Ivan Turgenev
'Under Western Eyes' by Joseph Conrad

Quintessential Turgenev
Encompassing social commentary, a (albeit fairly simplistic) love story, and a homage to Russia's beauty, this work does not fail the lover of Turgenev.Certainly this might not necessarily be the best work with which to begin one's odyssey through Turgenev, but this very effectively pulls together all the familiar elements of his writing.Turgenev is not known for his plot development, and this is again the case here: very little actually occurs.The absence of plot and of action, however, is not to say that this dry, boring drivel.Rather, Turgenev's material, this work in particular, becomes a pleasant marriage of the classic novel with the novel of ideas.

His commentary, both political and human, is both trapped in the amber of history and universally relevant (a lovely dichotomy) to the human condition."Virgin Soil" is a very fine story, and the translation is flowing and literate (having no Russian, I cannot speak to how accurately this might reflect the original). ... Read more

Product Description
Greatly expanded for this thrid edition, this book will be a valuable source of information for professionals and students alike. Unlike most texts on soil mechanics or rock mechanics, it provides a wealth of numerical data relating to the various engineering properties of individual soil or rock types. ... Read more

Product Description
The principles and concepts for unsaturated soils are developed as extensions of saturated soils. Addresses problems where soils have a matric suction or where pore-water pressure is negative. Covers theory, measurement and use of the fundamental properties of unsaturated soils--permeability, shear strength and volume change. Includes a significant amount of case studies. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

SOIL MECHANICS FOR UNSATURATED SOILS
The book is a very comprehensive and well written textbook. What is particularly of value is the section on swelling soils, that lays out the theory, analysis, and expected outcomes.
All in all one of the best books on swelling soils.

Geotechnical fundamental
This book provides great depth and detail in unsaturated soil mechanics for geotechnical practitioners. It is always a reference that is used in moments of direction and confirmation. The hard cover keeps the book intact for a long life hopefully to be handed on to future generations.Due to it's size it is not a book for the field.

Soil Mechanics for Unsaturated Soils
The book is classic. But i got the almost photocopied version book which is made me a bit upset.

The best book of unsaturated soil I have ever seen !
If you want to study unsaturated soil, this is the book that you must have. Excellent work ! ... Read more

Product Description
Soil Mechanics Laboratory Manual is the market-leading manual for junior-level soil mechanics/geotechnical engineering laboratory courses.It teaches students the essential properties of soils and their behavior under stress and strain and provides clear, step-by-step explanations for conducting typical soil tests. The careful explanations of laboratory procedures help foster students' independence, reduce errors, and improve safety. Written by Braja M. Das, respected author of acclaimed texts in geotechnical and foundation engineering, this manual also provides a detailed discussion of the AASHTO Classification System and the Unified Soil Classification System.

This seventh edition is enhanced by five appendices, including the newly added Appendix E that contains semi-log and linear duplicate graph paper.

Features

Comprehensive selection of class-tested labs
New photograph program to better illustrate textual material
Includes sample calculations and graphs relevant to each laboratory test
Includes blank, perforated data sheets (accompanying each test) for ease-of-use in the laboratory and teaching simple, best-practice report preparation
Provides references and five useful appendices:
Appendix A: Weight-Volume Relationships
Appendix B: Conversion Factors
Appendix C: Data Sheets for Laboratory Experiments
Appendix D: Data Sheets for Preparation of Laboratory Reports
Appendix E: Semi-log and Linear Duplicate Graph Paper

... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Good book, but still has errors
I have used this book for many years in my Soils & Foundations class that I teach at the University of New Hampshire, and just upgraded to this latest 7th Edition. I was very glad to find that they finally dropped the included diskette that used to be glued into the back, the files on it were very old and frankly worthless, and the "install" routine never worked correctly. I'm pleased my students are no longer paying for it.

In general, this is a good book that works well with classes that are in a 2-year AAS program, and it would probably suffice in a 4-year Civil Engineering soils mechanics class. The photos and diagrams are good and clear, as are the descriptions. The blank data sheets in the Appendices are a great addition, as long as you don't care about re-selling the book later. The new graph paper sheets in the back in this edition are also nice, but I still provide my own to my students so they can save their books. The perforations are not very well done, it can be tough to tear out the sheets if you want. I think it would be much better to provide the data sheets and graph paper as PDFs that the students could download from a web page on the Oxford Press website, this would also save a lot of paper and cost of producing the book (hello publishers!! college textbooks are too expensive!!). I also wish this book was spiral-bound so it would properly lay flat when reading the exercises of filling in the datasheets.

Probably the biggest detractor in this book is the errors in a few places, that have been there for many editions. I tried to email the author my comments after the previous edition came out, but apparently he never got it, as the errors are still there in this edition. I'll try again, but meanwhile I just point them out to my students so they don't get caught by them.

never got it, but was refunded
i think someone outbid me at the last second eventhough i was told i purchased the book and my credit card was charged.i wassoon notified that i did not get the book and that my credit would be replaced.no big deal but kind of a bummer.

to a geotechnical engineerit is a BIBLE
I have gone through all the experiments carefully,I have found the sequences,the calculations and the method or representing the results in an examplary manner,The simplicity with which the matter has been explained is worth praising. ... Read more

Product Description
This fully revised and expanded edition of Fundamentals of Soil Ecology continues its holistic approach to soil biology and ecosystem function.Students and ecosystem researchers will gain a greater understanding of the central roles that soils play in ecosystem development and function.The authors emphasize the increasing importance of soils as the organizing center for all terrestrial ecosystems and provide an overview of theory and practice of soil ecology, both from an ecosystem and evolutionary biology point of view.This volume contains updated and greatly expanded coverage of all belowground biota (roots, microbes and fauna) and methods to identify and determine its distribution and abundance.New chapters are provided on soil biodiversity and its relationship to ecosystem processes, suggested laboratory and field methods to measure biota and their activities in ecosystems..

* Contains over 60% new material and 150 more pages
* Includes new chapters on soil biodiversity and its relationship to ecosystem function
* Outlines suggested laboratory and field methods
* Incorporates new pedagogical features
* Combines theoretical and practical approaches ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Useful for Teaching
I agree with previous reviewers. This is a great book for beginners, classroom and learning about soil ecology. Fantastic photos and diagrams and useful for a beginner and intermediate in the field.

Great for an intermediate level reader
It's a perfect book for anyone who wants to know more about soil ecology. It gives introductory basics on some soil chemistry and pedogenesis, but then dives fully into the different ecological processes (and a large section on the critters) at work. I'm using this book in a class I am taking and I would definitely recommend it. Its language is simple enough to express some of the more difficult concepts, but it is complex enough to keep you from being bored. Plenty of graphs, pictures, and studies to accompany readings.

A great reference for ecologists and soil scientists.
I just received a copy, and haven't had time to look through it completely, but I would highly recommend this book for any ecologists (particularly graduate students like myself) who are working with organisms that have any biological connection to the soil.Just looking at the number of pages, it's been updated and expanded quite a bit since the first edition.Chapter 4, on soil organisms, is big and relatively descriptive (with useful pictures).Also covers in significant detail microbial communities (Ch. 3), nutrient cycling (Ch. 5), soil food webs (Ch. 6), the relationship between biodiversity and soil (Ch. 7) and includes quite a few sampling methodologies.This book covers, but does not stress the plant-soil relationship (Ch. 2, only a little over 20 pages), which is nice since that information has been of greater historical focus and is covered well elsewhere, while this book's strength is on things that are not as well covered in the standard literature.Other books that cover similar material as this one would be Dindal's (1990) "Soil Biology Guide" (a classic, animal taxonomy-centered tome in this field) and Wood's (1989) smaller, more ecology-centered text "Soil Biology" (too much like this one to justify purchasing it now?).Coleman et al.'s emphasis on ecology makes this book stand out as a great reference. ... Read more

Product Description
This study looks at the fundamentals of soil science and soil biology, encompassing topics such as the building blocks of the soil system and bioremediation of contaminated soils. ... Read more

Product Description
Soil Science Simplified, Fifth Edition is a significant update and revision of the classic introductory soils text. The new edition includes greater coverage of non-agricultural uses of soils ranging from municipal to engineering uses, as well as an expanded discussion of environmental uses of soils and soil conservation. In addition, the chapters covering the basic scientific aspects of soil from its physical, chemical and biological properties to basic formation will be thorougly revised and updated.

Soil Science Simplified will serve as a valuable introduction to soil science that addresses many new developments to this ever-changing field while maintaining the elements that have made it a user-friendly introductory text for more than 25 years. This text will be essential reading for anyone studying soil science as well as professionals working with this valuable resource. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Excellent, clear, readable
As a gardener who's been looking at online soil maps, I wanted to know a little more about soil and the meaning of some of these terms.Reading this book has been immensely helpful and generally enjoyable - I can understand it, and it makes sense.College chemistry being more than 20 years behind me, some things like clay chemical structure have been difficult to make sense of, and there's a lot of specialized vocabulary that's made the soil classification chapter unclear.But in general, I'm amazed that I can read this book without huge mental effort and chapter after chapter it continued to be understandable. The only complaint is that there are no photographs, and a good number of the illustrations provide no help or are less clear than they could be - I think some better illustations would help clarify clay chemical structure.

I highly recommend this book.

Textbook review
I find this book to be very informative and the price is much more reasonable than most books chosen as textbooks for these types of classes.

The information is brief and to the point, which may be a plus in some cases and may be a detriment in other cases, but that's what the instructor is for, filling in the blanks.

An excellent guide to the basic principles of soil science
Now in a newly updated and expanded fourth edition with additional topical material and the results of current research and trends, Soil Science Simplified is an excellent guide to the basic principles of soil science. From soil physical properties, chemical equations, water, and fertility to soil conservation, surveys, and engineering, Soil Science Simplified is densely packed with so much information that it is eminently suitable as a high school or undergraduate soil science textbook. Black-and-white sketches and diagrams illustrate the scholarly, methodical, highly instructional text. Soil Science Simplified is strongly recommended for students and professionals in seeking to understand soil science principles -- especially engineers, environmentalists, landscape architects, as well as anyone with an interest or career in agriculture.

cool
I think it will be good for me. however, there is others which is the best.. ... Read more

Product Description
As our society places increasing importance on the management of our natural resources, natural resource managers in both public and private sectors will need to understand the essential elements of soil and water systems. The principles of soil and water systems are clearly presented, and examples are given to demonstrate the applications to typical problems encountered by resource managers. Also includes the basic principles for controlling water and wind erosion, the disposal of excess water in humid areas and from irrigation systems, and the management of irrigation systems. ... Read more