Category: Books

Soils and Environmental Quality

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Aperpetual bestseller, this third edition remains the obvious choice for those instructors who strive to make their teaching applicable to contemporary issues.

The three authors, all teaching professors distinguished in soil science, have updated this student favorite to include a greater number of even more relevant topics. Responding to requests, they have also placed an increased emphasis on management issues. As with previous editions, the third edition offers students in soil or environmental science an overview of soil science, hydrology, atmospheric chemistry, and pollutant classification.

The text moves from the theoretical to the practical with an abundance of contemporary examples, such as an exploration of allowable pesticide concentrations in drinking water and an inquiry into soil contamination from the trace elements in organic by-products. Also considered are the use of soil carbon sequestration as a remedy for global climate change, and the effects of acid precipitation on forestation.

NEW TO THE THIRD EDITION:

·       New chapters on nutrient management planning, and the environmental testing of soil, plants, water, and air

·       Additional and revised case studies that continue to relate academic content to real-life situations, while inspiring students with real –life challenges to solve

·       Eight-page color  inset

·       Direct encouragement and links to fully access the Internet as a resource for the most up-to-date findings

Always Relevant, Always Interesting

The text also covers environmentally-related current events, fostering discussion of the political, economic, and regulatory aspects of environmental issues, the human side of environmental problems, the use and misuse of the scientific method, and potential bias in the presentation of facts. Students in soil science, environmental science, chemistry, biology, geology, and other disciplines will gain valuable insight from this multifaceted text.

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Soil Fertility & Animal Health (The Albrecht Papers, Vol II )

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Professor William Albrecht was a premier soil scientist and was dismayed by the rapid chemicalization of farming that followed WWII. This book is a well-organized explanation of the relationship between soil fertility and animal and human health. He shows why animal health (and ultimately human health) is based in the fertility of the soil and what farmers can do to improve soil quality, solving livestock disease problems in the process.

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The Martian

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Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars.

Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there.

After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive.

Chances are, though, he won’t have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old “human error” are much more likely to kill him first.

But Mark isn’t ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills—and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit—he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?

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Manual of Soil Laboratory Testing, Third Edition: Volume Two: Permeability, Shear Strength and Compressibility Tests

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This volume provides a comprehensive working manual for the laboratory testing of soils for civil engineers. It is an essential practical handbook for all who are engaged in laboratory testing of soils as well as being of great value to professional engineers, consultants, academics and students in geotechnical engineering. Revised and updated, the contents reflect current practice in standard laboratory test procedures for determining some of the important engineering properties of soils.

The authors have had many years experience in managing large soil testing laboratories since the early 1950s through to the present day, whilst actively contributing to the development of geotechnical testing through training courses, lectures, committees and working groups. They recognise that it is particularly important for test methods to be fully understood and a step-by-step approach has therefore been used in presenting each section.

The test procedures comprise the measurement of soil permeability, CBR value, drained and undrained shear strength, and consolidation characteristics. Additional material in this new edition includes the Fall cone procedure for measurement of shear strength in clays based on the European Technical Specification, a simplified direct approach and a useful arrangement for applying pressures in multistage triaxial tests to meet the requirements of BS1377. The latest requirements for calibration of equipment and measuring devices are presented and discussed, together with the significance of quality assurance based on recognised laboratory accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025.

Descriptions of test methods are complemented by many numerical examples in order to illustrate the methods for recording test data, making calculations, presenting graphical plots and deriving test results. Fundamental principles are explained, where appropriate, so that the operator can have a better understanding of the significance of the tests and guidance is given where experience has shown that difficulties may be encountered. The importance of good techniques, essential checks on test equipment and laboratory safety are all emphasised.

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