| Mark Lovel Nichols developed soil dynamics to professionalize agricultural engineering. In a 1945 speech, "Saving the Good Earth," he argued that agricultural engineers' main responsibility was to manage natural resources. Through engineered agricultural techniques and technology, sufficient amounts of food and fiber could be produced to meet global demands. This was the agricultural engineering profession's primary goal and justification for its existence.;Nichols's research methodology, determining the principles of soil-machine interaction, affirmed his professional identity as an agricultural engineer. It also strengthened the fledgling agricultural engineering profession's claim as a necessary scientific branch of engineering. This basic research yielded practical applications to contemporary issues in agriculture and industry.;Nichols also contributed to several other institutional landmarks in the agricultural engineering profession. He lobbied for a Bureau of Agricultural Engineering in the USDA. A federal laboratory, focusing on soil dynamics research, was created. By establishing his department at the Alabama Polytechnic Institute, Nichols also strengthened the academic standards of agricultural engineering. A leader within the professional society, Nichols secured professional alliances with industrial and government agencies and the American Farm Bureau Federation.;Unlike previous engineers, Nichols established mathematical expressions of soil reaction in the laboratory. His soil dynamics concept evolved from abstract theories to tangible results, being incorporated in the design of reliable and predictable machinery and implements. Soil dynamics research contributed to enabling the possibility of successful mechanization of commercial agriculture in the twentieth century.;At the same time it also resulted in reducing the agricultural labor force and worsening socioeconomic conditions for smaller farmers. Soil dynamics was most accessible through conservation programs initiated by Nichols. While empathetic to those farmers who were unable to continue farming, Nichols, like his professional colleagues, emphasized that mechanized, commercial agriculture was the most important task for agricultural engineers to achieve, regardless of socioeconomic consequences. |
