European Journal of Soil Science, December 2011, 62, 915 doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2389.2011.01405.x

Book review

Buol, S.W., Southard, R.J., Graham, R.C. & McDaniel, P.A.Soil Genesis and Classification (6th Edn). John Wiley &Sons Limited, Chichester, UK (www.wiley.com/wiley-blackwell),2011. xvi + 543 pp. £60 (¤72, US$99.95), hardback. ISBN-13: 978-0-8138-0769-0 (also in the Wiley Online Library as:9780470960622).

This well-known book was last issued in 2003 and the new versiondiffers from that edition in having more detailed examples of howsoils acquire various characteristics, in the inclusion of colourplates, a discussion of soils at the interface between land and waterand thus subject to periodic flooding, and something on moderntechnologies in relation to spatial information. However, at heartthe book is true to its main purpose, which is to convey to studentsof soils the mechanisms by which soils form, the variety ofsoils that result from these mechanisms, and how such potentiallycomplex objects can be classified in ways that relate them to theprocesses that form them and to each other, and how this affectsthe way in which soils can be used. In sterner days, we would havecalled all this ‘pedology’ and made no bones about it. Nowadaysperhaps people have to be led to these things more gently.

Thus the book is centred on the fact that if you are going tostudy soils, even at a relatively elementary level, then you needto study them thoroughly, so that you know what they look likein the field, why or how they acquired the features that they have,what their properties might tell you about how they behave (andmight change in behaviour if you do things to them) and what thetechnical jargon means when you read about them.

There are all the Chapters that help you to obtain this knowledgeand to understand it: Morphology and Composition of Soils, SoilForming Factors, Materials and Weathering, Soil-forming Pro-cesses and a great deal on Soil Classification. There is also auseful Chapter on Soil Mapping. Some might regard this processas somewhat old-fashioned and not ‘exciting’ enough. I could notdisagree more; soil scientists and those in related disciplines needto know and understand the basics thoroughly so they have a firmfoundation of the understanding of soils as they appear in theground, and what can be done with this information. This book isan excellent tool for doing just that and does not cut corners onthe way.

The Soil Classification Chapters (about one-third of the book)are based primarily on the US Soil Taxonomy, with someexplanation (albeit not extensive) of the connections between thissystem and others such as the World Reference Base. The reasonsfor doing things this way are obvious; the authors are all seniorpeople in the USA and their backgrounds and working lives havebeen spent with Soil Taxonomy. The drawback to this approachis that Soil Taxonomy makes great demands for data if it is tobe used to its full extent. Not all countries either have, or haveaccess to, such data and thus Soil Taxonomy gives them a hardtime. However, Soil Taxonomy is a major player in the worldof soil classification and soil scientists of all kinds ought to befamiliar with its main features, even if they use another system,and this book will give them that familiarity. After all, there hasto be a mechanism whereby the findings of soil research can beapplied across large areas of land and classification systems offeran important tool for doing this, something that is forgotten alltoo often. A useful feature at the each of each Chapter on thedifferent ‘Orders’ (the highest level of Soil Taxonomy) is entitled‘Perspective’, which is both a summary of the features of theOrder as well as a brief discussion of the agronomic aspects ofsuch soils (usually in a USA context).

The book is well-written in a plain style, with numerous illustra-tions (although I never understand why books are published whichgive some of these in black-and-white and then later in colour;this seems an unnecessary complication, especially as some ofthe black-and-white versions reproduce rather poorly), on goodquality, alkaline paper, and is well-bound between stout covers.So, despite its heavy emphasis on things related to the USA, itis an inexpensive book to be warmly recommended for the useof students of soil science everywhere (they do not have to learnSoil Taxonomy if it is deemed not relevant to their course, butreally they should), and as a useful handbook for those who wishto refresh their knowledge of some of the basics of our science.You should buy it and persuade your library to buy it as well.

P. Loveland

© 2011 The AuthorsJournal compilation © 2011 British Society of Soil Science 915