Gorgeous stories of Earth and the earth we live on. Part philosophical treatise, part natural history.

I really enjoyed this, despite its somewhat odd approach. This isn't really a science book, although Logan occasionally tells you about scientific details about soil science. Neither does it follow a straightforward path standard for these books, where the author travels around and learns more about his subject (although parts of the book are like that). Rather, this is a series of poetic and semi-religious meditations on ecology, celebrating the wonder inherent in the natural world. Logan attempts time and again to shift the reader's perspective to understand the complex systems that surround us, and to appreciate just how liminal biological life is in relation to deep time and the titanic forces of the earth below us and the cosmos around us. The book is composed of numerous short essays on topics related, sometimes loosely, to the soil and its active role in supporting life. Some are more successful than others, and they often leap wildly in tone and subject, but you sense throughout Logan's passion-- passion for life, for understanding, for experience, and for a quasi-mystical reverence for what science can teach us about our place in the universe. It's a captivating viewpoint because it's so different from the typical science book approach. He's not afraid to sound a little addled in extolling a more worshipful approach to nature (which, incidentally, is not explicitly tied here to any particular faith tradition). And he's also not shy about expressing some blunt opinions about the follies of man (including, puzzlingly, a screed near the end of the book against particle colliders). Although this approach runs the risk of veering into the maudlin or the crackpot, I thought Logan did a great job of reining it in just enough. He manages to give voice to an ecstatic and grateful appreciation of natural theology, without descending into daffy hippiedom. I liked this much more than I expected.

I vacillated a lot on my rating of this book. On the one hand, it's very well written...in an English-major kind of way. On the other hand, I found the book very slow going because I wasn't learning much...until I would suddenly hit an extremely eye-opening passage. On the third hand, I wanted to dock a star simply because there were far too many biblical bits, but I know that's just my grumpiness at work. And, on the fourth hand, what's with the infinitesimal font?

On the whole, I'd recommend Dirt for people with no background in science who want to become intrigued by soil. If you do know much science, the book might be frustrating, so look for something a little more in depth.

Fascinating material, and it's clear that Logan has a deep love for the subject. I wish I could rate the book higher, but the writing style just didn't work for me: I found it overly florid, distractingly so. I had trouble following chapter transitions and was stalled by terms introduced without a clear definition. Perhaps I'm not the target audience, or perhaps it's better on rereading.