Dirt: The Erosion of CivilizationsDirt, soil, call it what you want—it's everywhere we go. It is the root of our existence, supporting our feet, our farms, our cities. This fascinating yet disquieting book finds, however, that we are running out of dirt, and it's no laughing matter. An engaging natural and cultural history of soil that sweeps from ancient civilizations to modern times, Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations explores the compelling idea that we are—and have long been—using up Earth's soil. Once bare of protective vegetation and exposed to wind and rain, cultivated soils erode bit by bit, slowly enough to be ignored in a single lifetime but fast enough over centuries to limit the lifespan of civilizations. A rich mix of history, archaeology and geology, Dirt traces the role of soil use and abuse in the history of Mesopotamia, Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, China, European colonialism, Central America, and the American push westward. We see how soil has shaped us and we have shaped soil—as society after society has risen, prospered, and plowed through a natural endowment of fertile dirt. David R. Montgomery sees in the recent rise of organic and no-till farming the hope for a new agricultural revolution that might help us avoid the fate of previous civilizations. |
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - jjwilson61 - LibraryThingInteresting, but it bogged down when the author described one civilization after another doing the same or almost the same thing to their soil and paying the consequence. The entire middle portion of the book could have been summarized into one chapter. Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - Devil_llama - LibraryThingThis is a truly dirty book - a book about dirt, in fact. This book traces the role that dirt, and the erosion of dirt (some of us would call it soil, but that would be pedantic) has played in the ... Read full review
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Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations David R. Montgomery,Professor David R Montgomery Limited preview - 2007 |
Common terms and phrases
abandoned acres adopted agricultural American ancient areas became began central century changes cities civilization clearing climate colonial common continued conventional cover crop yields cultivation cultural decades degradation depends developed dirt early earth economic effects eroded Europe European farmers farms feed feet fields forest four global grain grew ground growing growth half harvests helped human hundred important improve inch increased industrial intensive island Italy land landscape later less living loss lost maintain manure methods million moved native natural nitrogen North nutrients once organic organic matter percent period plants plowing population practices problem production rates reduced region remained river rock Roman sediment slaves slopes society soil conservation soil erosion soil fertility South southern spread surface sustain thousand tion tobacco topsoil turned valley vegetation weathered worms
Bibliographic information
| Title | Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations |
| Author | David R. Montgomery |
| Publisher | University of California Press, 2007 |
| ISBN | 0520933168, 9780520933163 |
| Length | 295 pages |
| Subjects | › Nature / General |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |