Reviews: Atlas of Israel

This review discusses the first three installments of the Atlas of Israel (Tel Aviv, 1957), prepared jointly by Israel’s Department of Surveys, the Bialik Institute, and the Jewish Agency. The projected atlas comprises about 100 sheets, with two installments planned annually, covering cartography, physical geography, history, population, and economic activities. The reviewer concentrates on the first climate sheet: three Middle Eastern temperature maps at 1:17,500,000 provide regional context for eight maps of Palestine at 1:1,500,000 showing mean daily and annual temperature ranges, mean temperatures of the coldest and warmest months, and mean annual temperature. The reviewer praises the printing, which uses two-degree isolines and up to fourteen color gradations, and anticipates further climate sheets. The atlas is initially in Hebrew, with an English translation of the contents and sheet titles; an English edition is planned after completion of the climate atlas. Unable to read the Hebrew text on the sheet’s reverse, the reviewer nevertheless judges that the atlas could become a very important and valuable work if its other sections match the climate section.