Soil science: the beginning years

Nearly a century has passed since Jacob Lipman and associates were inspired to found the first U.S. journal totally devoted to the publication of soil science research. In an era when the appearance (and disappearance) of new scientific publication ventures almost seems to be an annual event, a pertinent question is "Why do some journals celebrate 90 years of successful publication, and others do not?" The history of journals such as Soil Science is relevant when we consider the fact that many of the challenges met by the initial publication team of Soil Science remain relevant to publishers today. Answers to such questions as "Is there a need for a new journal?" "Why would authors publish in a new journal rather than in their trusted outlets?" and "Is creation of a new journal a fiscally sound venture?" are as relevant today as they were in 1916. The founders of Soil Science faced an additional concern: "Is the discipline of soil science going to emerge as an independent scientific discipline or will it continue to be a subset of general agricultural concerns?" After 90 years as a premier soil science journal, we can conclude that Jacob Lipman and his team got it right.Thus, rather than basking in the sunlight resulting from the endeavors of all who have contributed to the success of Soil Science, this 90th anniversary of Soil Science publication provides an opportunity to parse the journal's history for clues to its success. The objective of this report is to mine the limited archival material and the early published articles to elucidate the challenges faced by the founders of Soil Science and how their actions led to the continued success of the Soil Science, a journal present as our discipline emerged and in which are recorded the advances-and, perhaps, a few retreats-of a discipline essential not only for optimizing more than just food production but also, at the risk of overstating the case, for sustaining our complex society through contributions to solution of problems associated with soil quality management and soil system response to global warming.