A. G. Bomford · 1973
The review describes Ward and Lea's 1970 An Atlas of Papua and New Guinea, originally produced for the 42nd ANZAAS Congress in Port Moresby, as a thematic atlas with limited topographic coverage and little use for route-finding. Its 51 thematic maps cover subjects from geology, soils and rainfall to pidgin English, religion, tuberculosis and archaeological sites. The reviewer praises Malous Ploeg's clear black-and-white cartography and the contributors' concise accompanying commentaries, and commends the practical, inexpensive softcover production priced at $2.50. Joining H. C. Brookfield's wish for a larger thematic atlas, the reviewer also hopes for complementary coverage by modern 1:100,000 and 1:250,000 topographic maps.
Mary Murphy · 1974
The survey describes An Atlas of Papua and New Guinea, prepared by the University of Papua and New Guinea and Collins-Longman and printed in Hong Kong in 1970. It notes that the atlas covers physical, political, economic, and cultural geography through black-and-white maps with signed commentaries, with map sources listed at the end.
Gordon R. Lewthwaite · 1974
The reviewer assesses the 1970 An Atlas of Papua and New Guinea, edited by R. Gerard Ward and David A. M. Lea with cartography by Marlous Ploeg, as a progress report on a rapidly changing territory approaching independence. Its 51 black-and-white maps, compiled for the 1970 ANZAAS meeting in Port Moresby from the work of more than 30 experts, combine earlier and original research with explanatory commentary. The reviewer emphasizes its human-geographical orientation and wide coverage of administration, population, languages, disease, environmental resources, agriculture, infrastructure, social services, and research sites. Data gaps, uneven coherence, omitted temperature maps and plantation coverage, and occasional legibility problems qualify the assessment. Nevertheless, the reviewer considers it an essential reference for Melanesia and a pioneering interim work between the 1951 Resource Atlas and a hoped-for national atlas.
