Chapter One
INTRODUCTION
No one regards what is at his feet; we all gaze at the stars.
Quintus Ennius (239 169 BC)
Heaven is beneath our feet as well as above our heads.
Henry David Thoreau (1817 1862)
The earth was made so various that the mind of desultory man, studious
of change and pleased with novelty, might be indulged.
William Cowper (The Task, 1780)
The quotations illustrate how differently humans see the soil that gives them life and
feeds them. Those opinions have been held for a long time. Most people are still at
the knowledge level of Quintus Ennius who lived more than 2000 years ago. They
take for granted the food that the soil produces, the clean water and air that the soil
provides. Thoreau's and Cowper's wonder and fascin ...
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