Reviews: Atlas of Poland

Summary

Adam Schmuck reviews the third fascicle of Atlas Polski, Klimat, published in 1954 by the Central Office of Geodesy and Cartography. He considers its six plates a partial response to Poland’s need for a climatological atlas. The first two, scientifically compiled by E. Romer, contain twelve maps at 1:6 million showing the temperature and precipitation characteristics of six seasons, temperature thresholds and their duration, comparative seasonal precipitation, and climatic gradients. Schmuck praises their depiction of seasonal movement and regional differences, noting their value for research and agriculture. The remaining plates show odd-month temperatures based on 1881–1930 data, odd-month precipitation, Warsaw temperature and precipitation records for 1826–1953, and A. Kosiba’s European pressure maps and six selected synoptic maps. The reviewer questions the inconsistent scales of the maps of Poland, praises the careful drawing, colour choices and wealth of content, and calls for a fuller atlas answering practical socio-economic questions.