Duncan (civil and environmental engineering and geotechnical practice and research, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State U.-Blacksburg) and Wright (soil dynamics and geotechnical engineering, U. of Texas-Austin) synthesize the current understanding of techniques and equipment for laboratory and in situ tests that have been developed over the past 35 years. Writing for student and practicing geotechnical engineers, they consider such aspects as principles of soil mechanics, shear strengths of soil and municipal solid waste, methods for analyzing slope stability, analyses for rapid drawdown, seismic slope stability, factors of safety and reliability, presenting results of stability evaluations, and slope stabilization and repair.