This book explores the history of soil usage throughout human history. Montgomery argues that people are using up their dirt. Through intense cultivation, we are gradually using up the nutrients in fertile soil. When the land does not have protective vegetation, wind and rain lead to gradual, often imperceptible erosion. Montgomery argues that as dirt runs out, we will be unable to grow food that supports our survival. This unusual book shows how dirt and agricultural lifestyles helped to shape human societies and how the shift to an urban lifestyle has altered our relationship with the land. This book will force readers to look at dirt, one of the most ubiquitous materials around us, in a new light.This book can be found in HECSA Library:
Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations
David R. Montgomery
S 590.7 .M66 2007
