Wolfgang Zech is professor emeritus for Soil Science and Soil Geography at the University of Bayreuth (Germany) and the lead author of the German edition of this book. He is honorary member of the German Soil Science Society.

Peter Schad is a lecturer for Soil Science at the Technical University of Munich (Germany) and the lead author of the present English edition of this book. He is the Chair of the Working Group World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) of the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) and the lead author of the current edition of the WRB.

Gerd Hintermaier-Erhard is a geologist and soil scientist. Together with Wolfgang Zech he published in 1997 a 'Soil Science Dictionary' and in 2002 the first edition of 'Soils of the World' (both in German).