The World of Soil (Collins New Naturalist Library, Book 35)A clod of earth, seemingly simple and lifeless, is now known to be highly complex in structure and tenanted by a remarkable range of animals and plants of its own. This edition is exclusive to newnaturalists. com Too often in the past has the soil been regarded as simply a superficial layer over the land, annoying to the geologist because it hides the rocks he needs to study; important to the botanist as the medium in which plant root systems develop;