Confusion about Pre-Class Readings
In trying to determine what part of the textbook I should be reading before each lecture, I've run into some confusion when comparing the course outline to the Lecture Notes page on this wiki.
For example, looking at the Lecture Notes page for tomorrow's class (Jan 9), it says the following:
Weathering and soil formation
Topics covered in this lecture: A. Weathering processes (physical, chemical and biological); B. Five factors of soil formation
But following the Course Outline PDF, under "Lecture Topic Outline" it suggests that the next material after the Introduction (which we covered last week and coincides with information from both Chapter 1 and Chapter 3 of the textbook - interestingly, Chapter 3 is not mentioned here at all but that is where pedon, polypedon, etc. are found), will be "Soil physics (Reading: Brady&Weil Ch.4, 5, 7)". This is confusing because in the textbook, the chapter containing information on Weathering Processes and the Five Factors is Chapter 2, not 4, 5 or 7. Also, in the Lecture Topic Outline it lists the Chapter 2 (Weathering) material as the seventh topic.
So is the "Lecture Topic Outline" not in chronological order? If I want to read the textbook material before the lecture, how do I know which chapters to read? It seems like the best option right now is to go to the Lecture Notes page, find the description of the topics covered, and then scan the textbook Table of Contents until I find the correct section. But then I'm left wondering when, for example, we will actually cover Chapters 4, 5 and 7 in lecture. Should I be reading those tonight as well? In my opinion it would be much easier if the Lecture Notes page also listed the corresponding chapter or page numbers.
I understand that the lectures won't be able to cover all of the material we should be keeping up with in the textbook. I don't expect it to all line up perfectly. But I would find it very helpful if I had some way of knowing the general order in which I should be reading the textbook.
Thank you,
-Mitch
NOTE: For anybody who reads this and is just as confused as I am, here is what I think we should have read by now to be prepared for tomorrow (Jan 9)'s lecture: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, and Chapter 3 up until 3.2. That seems to cover all of the topics listed on the Lecture Notes page.