Émile Kolodny · 1990
Kolodny reviews the 1985 third edition of Atlas of Israel, noting that it reworks or updates selected themes from earlier editions, including population data from the June 1983 census. About one-third of the plates cover general and physical topics, and two-thirds address population, settlement, economic activities and the environment. He particularly praises the plates on the development and structure of the principal agglomerations and secondary towns. Maps are labelled in Hebrew, with English translations of titles and legends; explanatory text is available in Hebrew or English. Geographic coverage varies by topic: physical maps extend beyond state boundaries, including a previously unpublished geological map of Sinai, while demographic and economic information on the West Bank and Gaza is sparse. Kolodny calls the atlas remarkable and notes the participation of about sixty experts.
Michael R.C. Coulson · 1991
The review examines the 1985 third edition of Atlas of Israel, a large-format volume containing forty double-page plates with bilingual Hebrew–English titles and legends and signed English explanatory essays. It surveys coverage of the physical environment, settlements, population, social conditions, economic activity, agriculture, and transport. The reviewer praises the overall design, colour, symbolization, and legibility of crowded maps, particularly the small bar graphs embedded in maps. Reservations concern inconspicuous scale references, outdated agricultural data, traffic legends that imply more precision than the maps support, and clustered symbols that obscure spatial patterns. In comparison with the second edition, the reviewer regards this edition as a complement: it extends thematic coverage and emphasizes labour intensity and productivity, while leaving substantial historical and relatively stable physical-geographical material in its predecessor.
