Alfred E. Hartemink - Soil Science Americana: Chronicles and Progressions 1860─1960

Cover photo: Participants of the Transcontinental Excursion observing a Cecil clay loam profile near Athens, Georgia on 25th June 1927. On the ladder: David Hissink, at the bottom of the ladder Boris Polynov. Photo by M.E. Diemer, Chemist and Photographer of the University of Wisconsin.

Cover photo: Participants of the Transcontinental Excursion observing a Cecil clay loam profile near Athens, Georgia on 25th June 1927. On the ladder: David Hissink, at the bottom of the ladder Boris Polynov. Photo by M.E. Diemer, Chemist and Photographer of the University of Wisconsin.

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The soil of the Earths surface is a historical object, a planetary skin that reflects the journey, experiences, and lineage of the patron of interest. Thus, it is not surprising that pedologists, as a group of scientists, have had a long interest in the history of their field and the origin of the ideas and concepts on which it is built.

In this book, Soil Science Americana, Alfred Hartemink has harnessed his long-standing ability and enthusiasm for examining science history and has created a riveting tale of American pedology, one of wide-ranging scope and depth. I anticipate that every reader will find themselves, as I was for a full afternoon as I read about Roy Simonson, carried to different times and places, mesmerized as the participants come again to life, regain their youth, and embark on their life journeys once again. As I remarked many years ago in the Foreword to the reprinting of Hans Jennys Factors of Soil Formation, we are commonly introduced to eminent scientists after their death, and we see them only through the lens of photographs taken late in life. Not here. The illustrations are novel, and we see people in their prime. We begin to understand them as humans, with all the associated humility, vanity, foibles, mistakes, successes, and brilliance that come with the bargain.

I chose to preview Chap. , a synopsis of the life of pedologist Roy Simonson. Simonson and I were born a bit more than a generation apart, though I shared with him the experience of an upbringing on a farm on the Dakota plains, and as a descendent of Scandinavian immigrants. Alfred Hartemink illuminates Simonsons skills and training in basic skills such as mathematics and in writing. Simonson used his skillsand keen criticismas an editor when he was just a graduate student, on the monumental book Soils & Men. As I read about this period in Simonsons life, it jarred my memory to an incident that occurred early in my career at Berkeley, when I was submitting some of my first manuscripts as a young Assistant Professor. I, as possibly many did, had the experience of submitting manuscripts to the journal Geoderma during Simonsons long tenure as Editor-in-Chief. In the late 1980s, my group had worked diligently on a manuscript, and we finally submitted it to Geoderma. Some months later, a package appeared in the mail, loaded with a heavily edited copy of the manuscript and the accompanying reviews. In addition to the comments provided by three anonymous reviewers was a personal review by Roy Simonson. The letter from Roy began by noting that due to his immense interest in pedology, he had taken it upon himself to personally provide a review of my manuscript. The comments he provided went on for more than 11 pages. Additionally, Simonson wrote, though I am still uncertain what he thought as he penned this, that I also include for you a document that I normally provide for our non-English speaking authors. The documentas I remember itwas entitled How to write in the English language. As I continued to read Alfreds chapter about Simonson, it provided a bit of consolation to learn that, many years before when he was a graduate student, Simonson had rejected a manuscript submitted to the book