This work originated in a Symposium forming part of the programme for Section IV (Geological Sciences including Mineralogy) of the Royal Society of Canada, which met at Queen's University, Kingston, in 1960. Of wide scope, it demonstrates the progress now being made in Canada in the study of its vast area of soils. The papers of this Symposium are unique in that they present for the first time a combined picture of three aspects of soil science–the geological, the pedological (or agricultural), and the engineering (known as Soil Mechanics). The book serves, of course, mainly as an introduction to a large subject, but some more detailed papers give an idea of the depth as well as the wide range of soil studies in Canada today.
The contents can be summarized as follows. First come seven papers on Pleistocene geology in Canada, followed by a study of muskeg (which forms half a million square miles of Canada's surface) and one of soil mineralogy. Four papers–one general and three regional–of pedological interest follow. Finally come four papers on soil mechanics: one relating agricultural and engineering soil studies; one discussing geology's influence on the siting and building of airports; a detailed account of the properties of Leda clay; and a general review of the soil problems facing the Canadian civil engineer.