Book excerpt: "This book is designed as a text for undergraduate soil and water engineering courses and as preliminary reading for postgraduate courses in soil and water engineering. It is hoped that it will also be of value to specialists, experts and engineers already in the field and to students preparing for the M.Sc. and PhD examinations. The texts and exercises are based on my lecture courses to undergraduate water science engineers augmented by material prepared for extramural short courses. Wherever possible, illustrations have been used to clarify the texts. The purpose of this book is to bring together and integrate in a single text the subject matter that deals with soil and water engineering. The book is divided into 24 chapters and is intended for students, researchers, and professionals working on various aspects of soil and water engineering. Various soil and water subjects have been discussed in the chapters"--