Re: Responce to Holliday "Soils, paleosols, geosols" ..


Posted by Leon Follmer 15 Jun 1999 15:17:37

Dear Fitz,
This is not nonsense. The word paleosol has its place in the
dictionary of science as much as the words soil and geosol do. Perhaps, it
should be recognized at a higher rank than soil because of the inverse rule,
which states that the more concise the meaning and applications are, the
easier it is to define.
SO, if you don't have need for the word, you don't use it, not tear it
out of the dictionary.
The word soil has too many meanings and applications for good science,
because it is nondefinable in concise terms; context is required. Even for
a buried soil a clear context is required.... Not all paleosols are buried
soils... This is a long subject and I will stop for now and give it some
more thought. We need to build an unabridged dictionary first, then you
may make your pocket version...

Leon Follmer