An Appreciation of Firman E Bear's Contributions to Soil Science. (Z03-heckman391194-oral)
Authors:
J.R. Heckman* - Rutgers Univ.
Abstract:
Firman Edward Bear (1884-1968), born on a farm, educated at Ohio State Univ., Cornell Univ., and Univ. of Wisconsin; served 2-yr as chair of the Dept. of Soils at West Virginia Univ., returned to Ohio State Univ. and taught Agricultural Chemistry for 13-yr; served 10-yr as director of Agricultural Research for the American Cyanamid Co., before being appointed in 1940 Professor of Agricultural Chemistry and Chair of the Soils Dept. at Rutgers Univ., where he remained until retirement in 1954.
After retirement he served as editor and chief of Soil Science, and as an advisor to government
agencies. Bear was an outstanding writer, authoring important books, some of which were widely used as college texts, and a popular book, Earth, The Stuff of Life. His concerns went well beyond soil management for food production to soil quality in relationship to human health and social conditions.
Bear should be remembered best as an important figure in soil science with contributions that continue to have relevance. Unfortunately, one of his articles, Variation in Mineral Composition of
Vegetables, has been frequently misquoted as evidence supporting the position that organically grown vegetables are superior in mineral content. This was not the object of Bear?s study nor does the study support this premise. His original paper is at www.rce.rutgers.edu/pubs/bearreport/
Speaker Information: Joseph Heckman, Rutgers Univ., Rutgers UniversityPlant Biology & Pathology, New Brunswick, NJ 08901; Phone: 732-932-9711; E-mail: [email protected]
Session Information: Monday, November 3, 2003, 7:55 AM-11:50 AM Presentation Start: 9:20 AM
Keywords: History; Mineral Nutrition; Soil Varibility; Soil Fertility