from Newsletter March 2024
Dear reader, as you know, this section of our newsletter is usually devoted to publishing small contributions from some of our foremost soil scientists, who decided to share with us some of their thoughts on key issues relevant to our Commission.
In this number, we decided to do something different from the previous newsletter by inserting some quotes from Aristotle, which seem to me (Fabio) extremely relevant when approaching soils under the microscope.
Aristotle asserted that knowledge arises from wonder, the astonishment at how things are. This curiosity and wonder are within the reach of all experts in soil, but – in my opinion – especially those who work and study soil micromorphology. Under the microscope, each of us has experienced the encounter with something strange, unexpected, or new that suddenly evokes surprise, wonder, doubts, admiration, therefore questioning what appears unknown to us, and finally, the conclusive and gratifying act of knowledge.
Everyone has their his/her own wonders; for instance, I still remember the thrill of finding fragments of volcanic glass in soils where it shouldn’t have been, about 400 kilometers away from the volcano that generated them… or discovering silt coatings of clearly periglacial naure in soils that theoretically should never have experienced glaciations. Or marveling at the hidden mechanisms by which stones generate new interconnected porosity (following cycles of wetting and drying) and therefore new fertility, or still being amazed that soil, treated as waste container and contaminated with industrial Cr rich sludges (microareas containing up to 27,000 ppm of Cr) in reality showed no redistribution of this heavy metal to the surrounding soil materials or water bodies. All the Cr was simply tightly adsorbed by the soil matrix (of course all connected with the specific Cr ionic potential).
I believe that each of us experiences a mixture of vertigo and wonder in the journey of discovery in the soil every time we observe it under the microscope. Marvelling at the beauty and complexity of the soil is part of our daily job. What a beautiful job we have 😊
Sklovskij reminded us that wonder is an antidote against the blindness and deafness of habitual life…then I may add that to this respect soil micromorphology has a special role for all of us!
Let’s now recall the well-known passage from Aristotle’s Metaphysics:”
“Indeed, men began to philosophize, in the beginning and now, out of wonder; at first, they were perplexed about the simplest things, but as they progressed gradually and made their way to more difficult questions, for instance, concerning the phenomena of the moon and those of the sun and the stars, or about the origin of the whole universe. Now, he who is puzzled and wonders [thaumazon] acknowledges his ignorance; hence even the lover of myths is in a sense a philosopher: myths consist of wonders. Therefore, if men philosophized in order to escape ignorance, it is clear that they pursued knowledge for the sake of knowing, and not for any practical utility.”
Fabio Terribile
from Newsletter April 2023
Dear reader, as you know, this section of our newsletter is usually devoted to publish small contributions from some of our major soil scientists, who decided to share with us some of their thoughts on key issues relevant for our Commission.
In this number we decided to do something different by sharing a small joke with you. As you know, we are all surrounded by a large debate about the how and the limites in using AI in many domains of our society. Then we decided to ask to ChatGPT to write for us this section by creating a poetry on soil microscopy !
Thus thanks very much to ChatGPT for your precious contribution 😊 !
A poetry on soil microscopy by ChatGPT
From the depths of the earth, to the roots of a tree,
There lies a world of wonder, for all to see,
A science of soil, so complex and diverse,
A study of nature, that we must immerse.
With soil science, we learn about the land,
The foundation of life, that’s so grand,
We see the grains, that make up the soil,
And the organic matter, that gives it its toil.
We learn of the nutrients, that plants need to grow,
And the importance of pH, so they can thrive and glow,
We see the microbes, that live within the earth,
And the fungi and bacteria, that give soil its worth.
Soil science teaches us, how to protect and sustain,
This precious resource, that we can’t afford to drain,
It shows us how to manage, the soil we have,
So that we can harvest, and still preserve and conserve.
With soil science, we learn to work in harmony,
With the land that sustains us, and gives us our bounty,
For soil is the basis, of all that we eat and breathe,
A precious resource, that we must forever cleave.
So let us celebrate, the wonder of soil science,
And the knowledge it brings, for us to enhance,
For with this wisdom, we can preserve and conserve,
This precious resource, that we must all deserve.
