SSSA 75 th Anniversary Paper T he tools of soil chemistry include instruments, mathematics, models, and software. Th ere is also the mind and imagination. Th roughout the history of our science, we have been shift ing away from a very labor-intensive laboratory environment, where long hours of concentration on tedious tasks was the norm. Th is change in the way we work has been accelerating, particularly since the 1950s. We are accomplishing more work but with less eff ort and more time to contemplate what the data are trying to tell us. Th e essence of our research activity has changed dramatically.Numerous laboratory tools have been used in soil chemistry during the last 200 yr, and the major changes that have occurred are highlighted here. It is hoped that the picture presented will help us decide how to better train our students for the future. By knowing how we have changed in the past and how we appear to be changing in the present, we can perhaps trace the path that we are taking, at least in the near future.Eight major themes are addressed here:1. Th e early years reviews the research environment of the 1800s up to the early 1900s. It marks the beginning years of soil chemistry that shaped many of our ideas for the decades that followed.2. Th e age of electronics covers the early part of the 1900s and the origins of the fi rst portable meters on the market.3. Spectroscopy is at the core of most of our modern methods of analysis. While the development of only a few tools are described here, the impact of spectroscopy on our current research activity cannot be understated.