The philosophical status of soil science

Abstract

This paper seeks to determine the identity of soil science by first establishing its origins in history. While soils have been of interest to humans since pre-historical times, and while scientific studies of soils began within the contexts of other sciences, systematic scientific studies of soils, hence soil science, began in the 19th century, initially with the aim of enhancing agricultural production. Such studies are now performed and required for other aims, among them environmental. The modern discipline of soil science has generally been divided into a small number of sub-disciplines, most commonly pedology, soil physics, soil chemistry, soil biology, soil mineralogy and often also, soil fertility. However, there appear to be three aspects of soil science that are unique to the discipline of soil science among scientific disciplines generally. These are: (i) the formation and properties of soil horizons, (ii) the occurrence and properties of aggregates in soil, and (iii) the occurrence and behaviour of soil colloids. The possibility that these aspects could be reduced to other sciences is dismissed because they can be explained more usefully at a larger size scale or by a more complex context than those belonging to more basic sciences such as physics or chemistry. Even so, some of their component parts may be more usefully reduced than is usually the case, e.g. inorganic colloids in soils may be better reduced beyond crystalline structures to their functional properties. The three unique aspects are considered to comprise a research tradition for soil science, which, due to their ultimate irreducibility, is constituted as a special science. These unique aspects cross sub-discipline boundaries so that both soil science and soils should be considered holistically rather than via the separate sub-disciplines through which they have often been studied in the past.