Since the mid-1800s an enormous number of books and papers about soils have been published. This paper reviews how soil science publications started and how they evolved over time. Some of the main publications that significantly changed our thinking on soils and soil science are discussed. Currently, a “publish or perish” culture seems to dominate and soil scientific publications grow at rate of about 5% per year despite the declining number of soil scientists in many countries. The trends in soil science publications are quantitatively analyzed.