Opportunities in Basic Soil Science Research

This report arose from an increasing awareness that many scientists outside of the agricultural sciences know little about modern soil science. Some people perceive that everything worth knowing about soil is known and that appropriate application of that knowledge is all that is needed. Other people perceive that soils were better understood and managed during some previous Golden Era of agriculture. Even knowledgeable scientists often assume that basic scientific principles developed in other disciplines can be applied to the study of soil in a straightforward way, requiring little imagination or creativity. Soil science, to such individuals, is merely applied biology, chemistry, or physics. As this report illustrates, soil is one of the most complex systems known. Highly nonlinear and highly variable, the soil system contains an infinite number and variety of chemical and biological phenomena. They ensure that the system is never static, never at equilibrium. Soils, if they are to be understood, must be studied at the atomic, human, and global scales. They are as worthy of study in and of themselves as are the heavens and the depths of the oceans.

• Format: Misc.
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0891188851
• ISBN13: 9780891188858
• Release Date: January 1
• Publisher: Acsess