Dr. R.P. Dhir, a pedologist by specialization, has spent much of his professional life at the Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur, India, and his job requirements took him to natural resource surveys, problem of desertification, settlement and land use evolutionary studies, use of saline water and each of these enriched knowledge about the problems and potentialities of a naturally disadvantaged Thar. The self-acquired proficiency in use of aerial photographs and satellite imagery together with experience gained from ground provided rare insights into natural resource-human use interactions. No less promising has been the natural archives, which have helped reconstruct the past climates of Thar. In a way these activities have continued even today. Dr.  Dhir has made an effort to summarize the  knowledge gained over the past nearly five decades.