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College-level, detailed and technical. Hard to get through, but exactly what I wanted: soil science, what, where, and why.
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.
If you plan to continue studies in the natural sciences, you will want this unabridged version. 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.
Its durability lies in its solid information; clear presentation; and graphics that are as rich as they are numerous. 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 is peppered with fascinating sidebars.
You can dip into it as a reference and find just what you need (assuming you have a foundation in soil science). It is 1/2 the book for 3/4 of the price (and at discounters the books are priced identically).
It's indispensable.
I first bought this book when we bought a property with trashed-out soil. 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've since grown attached to this book, which I find myself referring to. It's clearly written, well organized, and covers so much information. (c) 2000)With that said - I've gone through other books but haven't found one that I'd compare to this one. It's just really well done.
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. The third time I said: "I have to have my own copy." The 13th edition is now on its way.
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