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Book review |
Drennan, Maud & Partners, South Africa
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Although this book w ill be of little interest to ‘seriously’ hard rock geologists, it certainly will be to their ‘soft rock’ brethren, under whom can be included engineering and environmental geologists, as well as geomorphologists.
The book now into its 4th edition, is extremely comprehensive and fully up-to-date, having as it does sections dealing with digital and numerical information, as well as GIS in regard to soils. It is designed primarily for teaching purposes and the use by students, it having a question section at the end of each chapter with the answers thereto given in an Appendix. Nevertheless, it can be a very useful reference source for more ‘seasoned’ ‘soft rock’ practitioners, like myself.
All physical, chemical and biological facets of soil science are covered in the book, from processes and soil origins, soil surveys and ultimate land management, to problem soils and fertilization in terms of soil conditions. The various available major soil classification systems are briefly dealt with including the latest 2002 Australian classification, as well as the ‘mind-bending’ US Soil taxonomy, and the less fearsome FAO classification.
What I particularly like about the book is that unlike so many other books on the subject that are entirely northern hemisphere-based and orientated, Robert White's southern hemisphere more tropical soil experience features prominently in this book as well.
The book is lucidly written and contains excellent illustrations (some in colour) and diagrams.
My single minor criticism of the book is that although the various soil properties that
