National atlas of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic

Antonín Koláčný reviews the Atlas of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, completed in 1966 after six years of scientific preparation and four years of production. The Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences directed its conception and content, while the Central Administration of Geodesy and Cartography organized cartographic realization and production, with participation from 60 scientific institutions. Its 434 maps, cartodiagrams and cartograms, supplemented by over 200 graphics, cover natural conditions, population and settlements, industry, agriculture, transport and communications, and living standards. Basic maps use a scale of 1:1,000,000; explanatory texts, English and Russian summaries, and a 6,000-name index support interpretation and use. Compilation combined scientific research, generalization of detailed thematic mapping, official statistics and other sources, chiefly depicting conditions in 1961 or 1963. Koláčný emphasizes the coordination of maps for comparing phenomena and examining their relationships, alongside research into map design, symbols and production techniques and repeated checks and corrections. Comparing the atlas with the 1935 atlas and foreign national atlases, he praises its thematic coverage, detail and technical execution and identifies the scientific transformation of collected data into map images as its principal contribution. He also describes subsidized pricing intended to broaden public access and the atlas's planned uses in science, education and practice.