Disturbed Soil Properties and Geotechnical Design, 2nd Edition
The second edition of Disturbed Soil Properties and Geotechnical Design is a wonderful update to a classic. The authors have designed and written a captivating book that takes the reader on a journey through both the history and theories of critical state soil mechanics and plasticity. It does not read like a traditional textbook, which is typically a concise and dry collection of the works of others. Instead, it focuses on the Cambridge approach to this area of soil mechanics, where the authors are two venerable and decorated experts of this school of thought, contributing much to the field of knowledge covered by the book. What makes this book quite unique is that the content is delivered with historical perspective, which takes a one-dimensional subject and adds depth and contrast in a way that leads to a more meaningful understanding of the material. This additional context is very important, as understanding of the past yields a better understanding of the present and points to where we will be going as a field of study. Cam-Clay, which forms the backbone of this text, is likely the last concept that the geotechnical community agrees on unanimously. Professor Schofield's firsthand knowledge of this subject and its development provide the reader with an opportunity to see it come to life. While the book does include references to other schools of thought, they are not covered in detail and readers would benefit greatly by exploring other approaches to the subject. I highly recommend this text to practitioners, academics and graduate students in the field of soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering.
