The Surface of the Earth

Today we realize more and more that for normal functioning of the biosphere and particularly for the health of man the surface of our land is of vital ignificance. The soil of our planet, as we know it, has been created, since time immemorial, through an interplay of cosmic and biogenic energy, captured and stored by plant and lands. The technogenic and agricultural activities of modern man, for ver growing and growing, have drastically influenced and changed the surface of the Earth, bringing about a chain reaction of positive and negative can equences. Profound interdisciplinary knowledge is required to deal effectively with problems of natural resource and the environment. The collection of lectures by Professor Peter J. Williams (Ottawa, Canada) is courageously filling a gap created by the lack of text books on these problems. The book here reviewed consists of three large sections. The first includes ba ic information on the lithosphere, geophysics, geomorphology, energy budget, the formation of land and the general role of the climate, biota and soils in the history of the Earth urface, in agriculture and in engineering. Special attention is given to thermodynamics and alterations of the Earth crust materials, biogeochemical and hydrological cycles. The econd part of the book is saturated with detailed and up-to-date information on the basic properties of the Earth materials, thermomechanics water, heat, porosity, capillary system, rna sand energy balance as well as movement of water and vapor, freezing relative to urface conditions, local microclimates and engineering. The third section considers typical natural landcapes and phenomena such as slopes, sub urface grounds, soils of different climate, periglacial regions all in connection with the practical needs of prediction and prevention of deformation by landslides, water and wind erosion. The book has an attractive outward appearance, fine illustrations, a rich bibliography and a fist of publication suggested for additional reading. The only regrettable fact is that such classical names in soil science and geochemistry as Vernadsky, Goldsmidt, Dokuchaev, Hilgard, Glinka, Polynov, Russel, Zunker, are missing from the book.