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New Soil Analysis Book Vital Tool for Soil, Earth Scientists
AUBURN, Ala. — A new 1,692-page book co-edited by Auburn University soil physicist Jacob Dane is being called the most comprehensive, organized and technologically advanced set of tools ever available for measuring the physical properties of soil.
The book, Methods of Soil Analysis: Part 4 — Physical Methods, was a massive undertaking that spanned four years and involved 125 contributing writers from around the world as well as a panel of 19 top resource experts. Working with Dane as co-editor was G. Clarke Topp, a soil scientist in Canada’s Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food.
The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) published Methods 4 in late 2002 as part of its authoritative SSSA Book Series on methods of soil analysis. Dane’s book is a revised edition of a soil analysis book SSSA published in 1986.
“Significant advances have occurred in measurement techniques in the past 16 years, in terms of new methods and newer technologies,” Dane said. “Our goal with this book was to provide in-depth descriptions of procedures for carrying out virtually all physical measurements on soil and soil water.”
Methods 4 opens with a comprehensive, 26-page table of contents that allows users to easily locate specific soil characteristics and measurement methods. Soil sampling and innovative statistical procedures are the focus of the book’s first chapter. Each of the seven remaining chapters covers a specific soil measurement method in-depth, beginning with basic principles and progressing to advanced techniques.
The expanded scope of Methods 4 from the previous edition should make this volume more useful to a broader audience, Dane said, including not only academia and soil physicists but hydrologists, geologists, environmental scientists, microbiologists and civil and agricultural engineers as well.
Dane and Topp, both of whom also authored sections in Methods 4, earned accolades from John Doran, past SSSA president, for their success in compiling and editing the extensive volume.
“This work will undoubtedly join the ranks of earlier internationally successful soil methods monographs,” Doran said. “Methods 4 will become a standard item on the bookshelves of most soil and earth scientists”
The book can be purchased online from the SSSA at their Web site, www.asa-cssa-sssa.org.
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News from:
Office of Ag Communications & Marketing
Auburn University College of Agriculture
Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station
3 Comer Hall, Auburn University
Auburn, AL 36849
334-844-4877 (PHONE) 334-844-5892 (FAX)
Contact Jamie Creamer, 334-844-2783 or jcreamer@auburn.edu
Contact Jacob Dane, 334-844-3974 or jdane@acesag.auburn.edu
05/02/03
For immediate release
