Pedogenesis (from the Greek pedo-, or pedon, meaning 'soil, earth,' and genesis, meaning 'origin, birth') is the science and study of the processes that lead to the formation of soil (soil evolution) and first explored by the Russian geologist Vasily Dokuchaev (1846 – 1903), commonly regarded as the father of pedology, who determined in 1883 that soil formed over time as a consequence of climatic, mineral and biological processes, which he demonstrated using the soil forming equation:

In 1941, the Swiss scientist Hans Jenny expanded Vasily Dokuchaev equation by adding topographic relief as a factor and separating the biological processes into the fauna and flora coming up with the equation:

Pedogenesis is a branch of pedology, whose other aspects include the soil morphology, classification (taxonomy) of soils, and their distribution in nature, present and past (soil geography and paleopedology).