Profiles in the History of U.S. Soil Survey [Hardcover]

Douglas Helms (Editor), Anne B. W. Effland (Editor), Patricia J. Durana (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0813827590 | ISBN-13: 978-0813827599 | Publication Date: July 9, 2002 | Edition: 1

Profiles in the History of the U.S. Soil Survey offers a broad-ranging collection of essays chronicling the development of the U.S. Soil Survey and its influence on the history of soil survey as a scientific discipline that focuses on mapping, analysis, and description of soils.

• Appraises the influences of key individuals and institutions on the establishment of federal support for and coordination of U.S. soil surveys.


• Provides an account of life in the field, detailing experience shared by many soil scientists and survey processionals.


• Reviews the opening of careers in soil survey to women and African-Americans.


• Relates aspects of the utility of the soil survey to other federal services, to other fields of research, and to land-use planning.


• Discusses the future of the U.S. Soil Survey and the new directions both the survey and its uses will take.

Soil scientists and other soil survey professionals will find this collection valuable both for the new research it provides and for the memories it preserves of life and work in the field and laboratory. Historians will increasingly turn their attention to this crucial earth science as the intriguing connections between soils, the environment, and human history become more apparent. Teachers, students, and agriculturalists will also appreciate this detailed account of the Soil Survey.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Douglas Helms is the historian for the Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.AS. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Washington, D.C.

Anne B. W. Effland is an agricultural historian and works as a social science analyst with the Economic Research Service, USDA, Washington, D.C.

Patricia J. Durana is a natural resource manager with the Animal Husbandry and Clean Water Programs Division, Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA, Washington, D.C.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (July 9, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813827590
• ISBN-13: 978-0813827599
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,003,384 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A History of Some Soil Science Bureaucrats We Can't Live Without, February 12, 2008

By 

James Safranek "Holocene Meltwater" (Steinbeck Country) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Profiles in the History of U.S. Soil Survey (Hardcover)

And so goes the American food supply.
You've probably seen those bumper stickers "Fed Your Kid Today? Hug A Farmer", but no one would probably let their kid hug a suspicious looking guy covered in dirt, alone in a field, busy probing and measuring soil quality. Critical field work that allows those huggable corporate 'growers' to keep their rice yields up for those Cocoa Krispies hyping up your child in the morning.

This book pays homage to those in-the-scene workers who've mapped and maintain the National soil data base we depend on for food, forests and fun (recreation, for example, on BLM lands, however improperly managed by current conservative crats).

As someone who likes to explore the history of the discipline he's reading, I honed in on chapter 9 "Soil Survey and Soil-Geomorphology" authored by some of our best soil geomorphologists.

Note that one of the authors of this chapter, Holliday, covers just about the same ground in FOOTPRINTS IN THE SOIL (see section 2, "Soil as A Natural Body"), which is also highly recommended for an international perspective.

It was about time (plus parent material, climate, relief, and organisms) that someone wrote a history of the Survey. Soil scientists, agronomists, geographers, geologists and historians will benefit from the long view of those who've faithfully studied one of our most important resources.