This presentation contains photographs of some of the original watercolors, as well as the full collection of their smaller reproductions published in the book of Prof. Kubiena, “The Soils of Europe”, for many years considered a seminal work for the study and teaching of Soil Science.
This collection has an extraordinary historical value and demonstrates the efforts made by this scientist to establish the pillars of soil micromorphology during his stay at the former Institute of Soil Science and Plant Biology, currently Institute of Agricultural Sciences.
These small plates were used as illustrations in the book of Prof. Kubiëna, “The Soils of Europe”, published simultaneously in German (“Bestimmungsbuch und Systematik der Böden Europas”), and Spanish (“Claves Sistemáticas de Suelos”), a work considered during many years a master piece for the study and teaching of Pedology. Following the success of these publications, a new book was prepared, “Atlas of Soil Profiles” (also published in Spanish, “Atlas de Perfiles de Suelos”), in order the readers could keep loose the coloured plates of soil profiles. The original watercolors from this collection were painted by Gertrud Kallab and Anton Prazak.
This work also contributes to the celebrations of (CSIC) and The Spanish Soil Science Society (SECS) to commemorate “2015 International Year of Soils” (UN Resolution A/RES/68/232).