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by Cristian P. Schulthess (Author)
The chemical nature of soils is a fascinating and complex subject. It involves air pockets, and, hence, soil chemistry requires some knowledge of atmospheric environmental chemistry. It involves a wide range of relative humidity, ranging form dry desert conditions to wetlands. Soil chemistry, therefore, requires some knowledge of environmental water chemistry. It involves a vast array of minerals, which means, that a soil chemist must also have a reasonable understanding of geology and mineralogy. This textbook, Soil Chemistry with Applied Mathematics, uses the basic science principals from all of these environmental sciences (atmospheric chemistry, aquatic chemistry, and mineralogy) and blends them together in its study of soil chemistry. The uniqueness of this textbook, versus others with a similar interest, is its dedication to the details of the applied mathematics. This book, therefore, also educates students on how to use and manipulate mathematics in order to better describe environmental chemical reactions. The student will hopefully walk away with a clear view of the "big picture" of nature, plus a "wow, but of course" attitude about the science used to describe it, and a "hey, I can do this" feeling about the applied mathematics used and manipulated by scientists around the world.
Text has over 265 equations, 51 tables, and 131 drawings. Note: not all equations are explained, but many are. Math explanations are easy to skip as needed. This is a great textbook for undergraduate and graduate students in soil science, geology, environmental chemistry, natural resources, and environmental engineering. Instructors of applied mathematics may also wish to borrow ideas from this textbook for their classes, or they may encourage their students to fulfill their science degree requirements by choosing courses that use this textbook or its unique applied math approach.
