Soil mechanics and foundations in the context of basic mechanics, physics, and mathematics. It is appropriate for a single course combining introduction to soil mechanics and foundations, or for a two-course geotechnical engineering sequence.

The author presents topics thoroughly and systematically without diluting technical rigor, and gives students confidence in learning the principles of soil mechanics and its application to foundation analysis by clearly defining what they should learn from this text, and providing tools to help them organize and assess their own learning.