CSI Director Kenichi Soga co-authored a new book, “Fundamentals of Soil Behavior, Fourth
Edition.” Co-authors include Professor Emeritus James K. Mitchell and Geosystems alumna
Professor Catherine O’Sullivan. The previous third edition attracted over 13,000 citations across
geotechnical engineering and related fields like granular physics, soil science, and powder
technology. This new edition has been thoroughly updated to provide the latest information on
the physical properties of soil and the fundamentals of its behavior, with hundreds of tables and
graphs illustrating correlations among composition, classification, state, and static and dynamic
properties. Overall, each topic is addressed in a micro-to-macro sequence, considering
behaviors at the atomic and/or particle scales to develop understanding of soil properties and
behaviors at the macro-scale, which is relevant to engineering practice.
Two new chapters on special features of soil behavior and temperature-dependent soil behavior
were added. Other chapters have been substantially updated to include the latest developments
in imaging technology and particle level numerical simulations that have advanced research on
the complexities of soil behavior, and recent experimental data. Its balanced integration of
scientific principles with practical applications has shaped graduate education and professional
practice worldwide, while also inspiring major research directions in environmental geotechnics,
energy geotechnics, ground improvement, soil–structure interaction and granular physics.
Media Contacts:
Professor Kenichi Soga, soga@berkeley.edu
Grace Kang, g.kang@berkeley.edu
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