Percy Edgar Brown (1885–1937) was a

soil scientist Soil science is the study of soil as a natural resource on the surface of the Earth including soil formation, classification and mapping; physical, chemical, biological, and fertility properties of soils; and these properties in relation to the ...

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

Ames, Iowa Ames () is a city in Story County, Iowa, United States, located approximately north of Des Moines in central Iowa. It is best known as the home of Iowa State University (ISU), with leading agriculture, design, engineering, and veterinary medici ...

. Brown is perhaps best known for the book, ''Soils of Iowa'', which was published in 1936. The classic map, "Landform Regions of Iowa," was originally published in this text. Landforms of Iowa

Brown was born on a farm at

Woodbridge Township, New Jersey Woodbridge Township is a township in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township is both a regional hub for Central New Jersey and a major bedroom suburb of New York City in the New York metropolitan area located within the ...

, on October 9, 1885. He graduated from Woodbridge High School in 1902. From 1906 to 1910 Dr. Brown served as assistant soil chemist and bacteriologist at the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station under J. G. Lipman. On several occasions he mentioned that no man had influenced him more than Lipman. Brown received his B.S. (1909), A.M. (1909), and Ph.D. (1912) from

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

. In 1910 he joined the

Iowa State College Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

faculty as Assistant Professor (1910-1912) of soil bacteriology. Soon after he was promoted to Associate Professor (1912-1914) and Professor (1914-1932). In 1932 he became the head of the Department of Agronomy and served until his sudden death from a heart attack in 1937. His major interests of study included soil bacteriology,

soil fertility Soil fertility refers to the ability of soil to sustain agricultural plant growth, i.e. to provide plant habitat and result in sustained and consistent yields of high quality.

and soil survey. During his time at Iowa State he was heavily involved in establishing curriculum in the soil science discipline. Brown was also heavily involved in numerous professional organizations including: the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Iowa Academy of Science, the American Chemical Society, the American Society of Agronomy, the American Soil Survey Association, the Soil Science Society of America, and the International Society of Soil Scientists. He was also consulting editor of ''Soil Science'' and business manager and Editor-in-Chief of the ''Iowa State College Journal of Science''. Brown held the office of secretary-treasurer for the American Society of Agronomy from 1920 until 1937 except in 1932 when he served as president. He was also one of the first 10 "fellows" elected in 1925. After the establishment of the Soil Science Society of America in 1935 he served as secretary-treasurer and also served as the treasurer of the international Society of Soil Scientists. Due to Brown's great contribution to the American Society of Agronomy, J. D. Luckett, one time Editor of the Journal of American Society of Agronomy, stated, "I feel that the American Society of Agronomy and all that it stands for today is one of the splendid monuments that Dr. Brown has left to his enduring memory."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Percy Edgar 1885 births 1937 deaths American soil scientists Rutgers University alumni People from Woodbridge Township, New Jersey Woodbridge High School (New Jersey) alumni Iowa State University faculty Presidents of the American Society of Agronomy