The AAAS Selected Symposia Series was begun in 1977 to provide a means of more permanently recording and more widely disseminating some of the valuable material which is discussed at the AAAS Annual National Meetings. The volumes in the Series are based on symposia held at theMeetings which address topics of current and continuing significance, both within and among the sciences, and in the areas in which science and technology have an impact on public policy. The Series format is designed to provide for rapid dissemination of information, so the papers are reproduced directly from camera-ready copy. The papers are organized and edited by the symposium arrangers who then become the editors of the various volumes. Most papers published in the Series are original contributions which have not been previously published, although in some cases additional papers from other sources have been added by an editor to provide a more comprehensive view of a particular topic. Symposia may be reports of new research or reviews of established work, particularly work of an interdisciplinary nature, since the AAAS Annual Meetings typically embrace the full range of the sciences and their societal implications.
About the Author:

Luther C. Hammond is Professor of Soil Physics at the University of Florida, Gainesville. His multidiscipline investigations includes water retaining and transmitting characteristics of the major soils of Florida; plant water use and management in response to crop and soil management variables and to atmospheric demand; root growth in relation to plant and soil factors; and spatial variability of soil physical properties and crop yields. He received his B.S. from Clemson University and his M.S. and Ph.D. from Iowa State University. James E. Box. Jr. is a Soil Scientist with the Southern Piedmont Conservation Research Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service in Watkinsville, Georgia. He was Laboratory Director of the Center (1966-1984), served on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation (1981-1989), and was Chairman of the Southern Regional Information Exchange Group for Root Environment (1986-1989). He has authored and co-authored more than 90 scientific publications and participated in international symposia on root research. Dr. Box's particular areas of interest are use of the minirhizotron technique and rooting of soft red winter wheat. He received his B. S. and M. S. degrees from Texas A&M University and his Ph.D. from Utah State University.