Teaching soil mechanics core concepts: mapping the structure of university textbooks worldwide

Textbooks serve as essential reference materials for educators, structured to introduce concepts in a logical sequence. This study explores how soil mechanics concepts are treated in university textbooks, by analysing the Table of Contents (TOCs) of introductory soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering books. The research begins with the compilation of a list of these textbooks— sourced from personal knowledge, colleague recommendations, and bibliographic reviews—followed by an initial discussion on terminology and the presentation of key features of: landmark textbooks, latest editions of widely adopted textbooks written in English, textbooks written in other languages. A comparative analysis of the considered textbooks is then conducted by considering the topics addressed and their sequence of presentation. The main outputs of the analysis revolve around the original definition and clustering of soil mechanics key topics and core concepts. The findings aim to inform educators about similarities and differences in topic coverage and sequencing within introductory soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering textbooks written across different time periods and languages.