Manual on international oceanographic data exchange

Manual on international oceanographic data exchange

tions is as may be expected in an alphabetical reference work. The titles of the various articles are generally logical, Whereas both works contain a ...

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tions is as may be expected in an alphabetical reference work. The titles of the various articles are generally logical, Whereas both works contain a similar amount of text per printed page, the price per page of the Fairbridge encyclopedia (U.S.~0.031/8 is just over half of that for Runcorn's Geophysics dictionary. As far as the atmospheric sciences and astrogeology are concerned, the work here under review pre-

sents, thus, greater value for less money. However, the page price of the atmospheric sciences encyclopedia is nevertheless distinctly higher than that of the oceanography encyclopedia (U.S.~0.024). Did the publisher overestimate the market for its earth-science encyclopedias or underestimate its production costs? It is still not clear to the reviewer why in the Reinhold earth-science encyclopedias some terms which have no entry of their own have a cross reference in the text part of the book (e.g., Doppler effect - see Relativity), while most others, including several important terms, are given only in the index. Could not ever3,thing which has no separate article have been included in the index only? The index to the Fairbridge encyclopedia refers the user directly to a certain page where information about the subject in question can be found. The International Dictionary of Geophysics provides a valuable extra service in listing in each instance, preceding the page number where a certain topic is mentioned, the title of the article of which it forms a part. This procedure could be recommended for the future volumes in the Reinhold series as well. Very useful in the Fairbridge encyclopedia are the cross references given at the

end of various contributions which focus attention on related topics treated in the same volume, An exceptional unbalance in the present encyclopedia is an article "Katabatic winds" of V2 p. length which is followed by an article "Katabatic winds in the equatorial Andes" of not less than 41/2 pp., whereas there are no similar contributions on other geographical areas,

scientific literature. It makes one wait eagerly for the next three announced one-volume encyclopedias in the Reinhold series on Geomorphology, Geochemistry, and Geophysics. A.A. Manten

Exchange of OceanographicData

The historical development of the fields covered is somewhat slighted in this encyclopedia also. There is a good entry "Meteorology: a brief history" of 8 pp. "Space science" starts with about ~/2 p. of historical introduction, The article "Astrogeology" has one paragraph of 22 onecolumn lines of historical information. No historical sections at all are given in the articles on "Cosmogony'~ and "Cosmology". Biographies of famous scientists are not given, There is no entry "History" in the index. In the category of the history of science there are, thus, still chances for further improvements in the planned future encyclopedias, The possibility of having more than one author contribute to certain articles has been used as little in this encyclopedia as in its oceanographic predecessor. The large scale and worldwide distribution of a promotion leaflet, announcing in large letters the appearance of "The Encyclopedia of Sciences and Atmospheric Astrogeology" did, for one moment, raise some doubts about the accuracy with which the publisher fulfills its task, but the encyclopedia itself fortunately contains only a few compositor's errors, In conclusion, it can be said that the present volume is a most valuable addition to

Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, 1967.

Manualon International Oceanographic Data Exchange. UNESCO, Paris (Intergovernmental Oceanographic Cornmission Technical Series, 4), 2nd revised ed., 49 pp. The purpose of this Manual is to assemble in a convenient form the various documents concerned with the exchange of oceanographic data of all kinds for the guidance and use of practising oceanographers. A full and expeditious exchange of data is essential in meaningful scientific cooperation. Investigations of phenomena and processes of global dimensions, such as those occurring in the ocean and atmosphere, are particularly dependent on the pooling of data from various sources. A system for exchanging oceanographic data on a regional basis has been operated successfully for many years by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. The programme of the International Geophysical Year made necessary the creation of a world-wide system. Thus, World Data Centres A and B (Oceanography) were established in Washington and Moscow, their operations being financed by the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R. These centres, together with those in other disciplines, are A107

responsible to the International Geophysical Committee of the International Council of Scientific Unions. The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission has produced a "Provisional Guide for the Exchange of Oceanographic Data" which appears m this Manual. While the terms of the Provisional Guide are voluntary, it should be recognized that order is neeessarT in such a rapidly expanding science if the full advantages of this expansions are to be widely realized in the most efficient way. Approximate time limits as well as methods for the submission of the various kinds of data remain, therefore, a feature of the revised Guide, although a less exacting one than before, The "Provisional Guide for the Exchange of Oceanographic Data" is supplemented in this Manual by recommendations of the I.O.C. Working Group on Oceanographic Data Exchange adopted in January ! 1964, and approved by the Commission at its third session, as well as by those adopted in April 1966 and finally approved by the I.O.C. Bureau at its 7th Meeting in January 1967. ] These recommendations give details which are not conveniently included in the [ Provisional Guide itself, t Through the publication of the present Manual, the

Manual on International Oceanographic Data Exchange issued by UNESCO in 1965 has become obsolete.

Reference Work on Applied Geology A. Nelson and K.D. Nelson, 1967. Concise Encyclopaedic

Dictionary o f Applied Geology, Mining and Civil Engineering. A108

Elseviez, Amsterdam, 432 pp., Dfl. 30.00.

The volume being reviewed appealed to the reviewer since it is the first dictionary to cover the broad area of applied geology and its growing ramiVtcations in soil, water, civil, fuel and mining engineering. Praiseworthy axe numerous cross-references to alternate or associated terms which make tracking easy, and the sufficient and successive definition of terms according to concept, application or composition, which reduce the need for additional follow-up, It should prove to be a convenient and useful reference book, particularly for the manager and operator in his communication with professionals, for the engineer working increasingly with specialists, the geologist in his association with the fields related to his specialization, and the geophysicists active in civil, mineral and resource studies, The strength of this dictionary is the simple reference, breadth, and entree' permitted to the professional, student or trainee's associated fields: it is not intended as a glossary or handbook, A.A. Brant

Ore Exploration A. Kvalhaim (Editor), 1967.

Geochemical Prospecting in Fennoscandia. Wiley, London, 350 pp., 167 fig., 45 tables, 120s. The rifle o f this important

compilation is somewhat misleading in that Denmark, which geologically forms part of Fennoscandia, has been left out of consideration because ore exploration based on geochemical prospecting methods has not been carried out in Denmark.

In Norway, Sweden and Finland, however, very extensive experience has been gained in thia field since the days of pioneers in geochemistry like V.M. Goldschmidt and Th. Vo~ (in Norway), N.H. Brundin and S. Palmqvist (in Sweden)~ and K, Rankama and T.G. Sahama (in Finland), whereas also Russian scientists such as W.J. Vernadsky and A.E. Fersman have had great influence on their Fennoscandian colleagues Geochemical prospecting became particularly intensive and has been shown to be extremely useful, in the early nineteen-fifties when also in Norway, Sweden and Finland a large number of geologists were occupied with the search for uranium. This prospecting work was carried out partly by the respective state geological survey, partly by atomic energy commissions, partly by private companies, and most of the contributors to this volume were already active m one of these organizations in the field during those days. Exemplary cooperation between a large number of ou tstanding specialists from the three countries mentioned abow has resulted in a most welcome and very well-documented survey of what has been done as well as of problems still to be

solved. The book consists of three parts. Part I (seven chapters. 95 pp.) must be considered as an introduction to the geology, ore deposits and physiography of Finland, Norway and Sweden. Of course, nobody can expect to find here an ex~austh'e account on these subjects, but every chapter (also in Part II and l i d is fop lowed by anextensive bibliography to which the reader is referred for further details. This part will be highly appreciated by readers who are not familiar with the geology