Reviews: Atlas of Australian Resources

Summary

This review describes the Atlas of Australian Resources, completed by the Department of National Development in 1960 with five new maps, and its accompanying commentary booklets. It records the succession of editors—K. Frenzel, Anne F. T. Bauer and T. W. Plumb—and lists the sheets' completion dates and contents. The atlas contains 30 sheets: 25 maps at 1:6,000,000 and 57 smaller-scale maps grouped on five sheets, all using a polyconic projection. Its subjects range from physical geography, climate and natural resources to agriculture, industry, population, transport, public services and development projects. Each sheet has an authored commentary averaging about 7,000 words, supplying historical information, statistics, diagrams, references and additional maps. The reviewer praises the cartography, reproduction, balance of detail and generality, and use of symbols and codes, but criticizes imperfect colour registration on about a third of the sheets, especially Soils. The expert commentaries are judged valuable supplements, and the review concludes with distribution arrangements and prices for sets and individual sheets.