Reviews and notices: Atlas of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic

Summary

The review examines the 1966 Atlas of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, published by the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences and the Central Office for Geodesy and Cartography. Compilation was authorized in 1957 under the state basic-research programme; an editorial staff appointed in 1962 initially worked under K. Kuchař, with A. Götz subsequently becoming chief editor and drawing on scientific and state institutions. Following the IGU National Atlases Commission's recommendations in structure and design, the atlas contains 443 maps, cartograms, and diagrams on 58 sheets, with principal maps at 1:1,000,000. The reviewer surveys administrative history, the extensive physical-geography section, population, industry, agriculture, transport, trade, and living standards. He highlights genetic relief mapping, biogeocenoses classified by environmental conditions, proportional colour strips for mixed nationalities, agricultural production types combining natural conditions and crop suitability, and transport maps combining traffic intensity with road density or accessibility. He questions several population-mapping techniques and notes the absence of a synthesis in the soil maps. The living-standards section receives the strongest criticism for accumulating heterogeneous indicators without the thematic integration found earlier. Despite these reservations, he judges the atlas at least equal to its prewar predecessor and exemplary in scientific and technical-cartographic quality.