This book is about soil geography, which we think is a difficult and challenging area of study. Our purpose in writing this book is to assert that only through a study of the spatial interactions of soils on landscapes can soil and landscape evolution be truly resolved.

This book can be used in courses on soil geography, soil genesis, pedology and soil geomorphology. Our assumption is that the readers have had some background in the natural sciences, and are eager to learn more about soils. We do not assume, nor does the reader need, a substantial background in soils to read and comprehend this book. Difficult as the task may seem, our goal was to write a soils text that could serve both as an initial soils text and as a cutting-edge resource book of research grade. Only time will tell if we met that goal.

Our emphasis, beyond that of soil geography, is deliberately intended to be broad. Other books of similar ilk (Daniels and Hammer 1992, Birkeland 1999) focus on geomorphology and the initial geologic setting as a guiding framework for the understanding of soil landscape evolution. We emphasize these issues in later chapters. Buol et al. (1997) and Fanning and Fanning (1989) focus on soil genesis while at the same time emphasizing classification.

Our book relies heavily on concepts and imagery to convey ideas. We have compiled a suite of figures, images and graphics that, in and of themselves, convey messages that cannot be put into words.