Soil Chemistry with Applied Mathematics

About the Book

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.

About the Author

Dr. Schulthess is an Associate Professor of Soil and Environmental Chemistry at the University of Connecticut, where he has been since 1991. Born in Argentina, he was raised and educated in the States. He received his Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in chemistry from the University of Rhode Island in 1978. He then received a Certificate of Federal Capacity (CFC) degree in chemistry in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1981. He then focused on environmental studies at the University of Delaware, where he received a Master's of Applied Science (MAS) degree in environmental engineering in 1985, and his doctoral (PhD) degree in environmental soil chemistry in 1987. His PhD dissertation received the Emil Truog award in 1988 by the Soil Science Society of America for "an outstanding contribution to soil science as evidenced by the PhD dissertation."

Dr. Schulthess has worked 3 years in R&D of aromatic organic compounds in Geneva, Switzerland; 1 year in water research at the Swiss Federal Institute for Water Resources and Water Pollution Control (EAWAG) in Duebendorf, Switzerland; 2 years in the Environmental Science Division of the Oak Ridge National Labs in Oak Ridge, Tennessee; and 1 1/2 years in the Environental Chemistry Section of the National Chemical Laboratory for Industry in Tsukuba, Japan.

Dr. Schulthess has authored or co-authored over 25 articles. He has been an Associate Editor since 2002 for the Soil Science Society of America Journal, the most prestigious journal in its field. He has an active research program in soil chemistry, and has been teaching soil chemistry to undergraduate and graduate students since 1992.