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Climate: Present, Past and Future. Volume 2. Climatic History and the Future
364 and have expanded the section on regional basin analysis relating this to plate tectonics. Although most of the text remains u n t o u c h e d from the first edition, one or two printers errors have been removed (Old Red Sandstone o n p a g e 86 to New Red Sandstone on page 108). It is unfortunate though that the first word in the b o o k is a misprint. It always puts a reviewer in a good frame of mind to see his work referred to in a text b o o k b u t this effect is lost when his name is misprinted (page 142). R. C. SELLEY London
Climate: Present, Past and Future. Volume 2. Climatic History and the Future. H. H. Lamb (Editor). Methuen and Co. Ltd., London, 1977, 835 pp., £38. Volume 1 of this m a m m o t h undertaking by Professor Lamb was published in 1972 and was concerned with the climate of the present. This volume deals mainly with the climate of the past with just a small section devoted to climate of the future. The sheer amount o f information presented in this volume together with the u n d o u b t e d dedication and scholarship of the author are truly awe-inspiring. Professor Lamb, an acknowledged expert in the field of climatic change, will surely earn further kudos for this magnificent work. Following a brief introductory chapter entitled "Man's awareness of climatic changes", the main section of the b o o k -- Part III (530 pages approximately) -- discusses climatic history. The first o f the six chapters in this part is the longest in the b o o k (260 p a g e s ) a n d deals with the evidence of climates over the past million years and the methods of dating that evidence. Information and deductions are drawn from a multiplicity of source material and techniques. Botanical, astronomical, geophysical and biological sciences are among the many availed o f and a sample of the topics covered includes dendrochronology, lake bed deposits, archaeology, pollen deposits, volcanic activity, magnetic fields, sea, lake and river levels. Much of this section is an exposition of the research and results reported b y various workers b u t also includes many results and opinions communicated personally to the author. The next five chapters deal with climatic changes during the various periods from the pre-Quaternary through Quaternary, postglacial, historical to instrumental. The last chapter covers a period of 200--300 years and, as one would expect, there is a lot less theorising as to what may have happened and a lot more factual data and definitive statements as to what did happen during this period. A useful section consisting of over 100 pages o f supplementary tables of climatic parameters is included as an appendix to Part III. The future gets a rather summary treatment in Part IV. The first of the
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two chapters is an interesting overview of "Man-made climatic changes" including both deliberate and inadvertent climate modification. Finally a chapter entitled "Approaches to the problem of forecasting" deals mainly with medium range and seasonal forecasts and reference is made to some of the economic benefits which would accrue from reliable predictions. An appendix lists 24 "scientifically based climate forecasts known to have been issued" and the author comments on their degree of success (or otherwise) -suffice it to say that the breakthrough is still awaited. The remaining 120 pages are devoted to references, subject and geographical indexes. For a volume of this size, there are gratifyingly few printing or other such errors; I f o u n d less than a dozen. Reference is made (p. 26) to Plate I as illustrating a sample page from a ship's log; a log is indeed illustrated but one of the tree variety which portrays the yearly growth ring sequences. A reference to the frequency of drift ice at the coast of Ireland (p. 583) surprised somewhat; the later text indicated that Iceland was the c o u n t r y in question. There is an a m o u n t of repetition throughout the book and some judicious pruning would certainly seem worthwhile. The immediate intelligibility of parts of the text was not facilitated by the author's habit o f putting long statements in parentheses in the middle of equally long sentences. In a number of cases, the footnotes occupied between one third and two thirds of the page and these tended to become tiresome and to distract from the main theme. However these are relatively minor criticisms and are not intended to detract from the value of a book which is heartily recommended as a " m u s t " for all serious students of climate. E. J. MURPHY Dublin
Climate: Present, Past and Future. Volume 2. Climatic History and the Future. H. H. Lamb (Editor). Methuen and Co. Ltd., London, 1977, 835 pp., £38. Volume 1 of this m a m m o t h undertaking by Professor Lamb was published in 1972 and was concerned with the climate of the present. This volume deals mainly with the climate of the past with just a small section devoted to climate of the future. The sheer amount o f information presented in this volume together with the u n d o u b t e d dedication and scholarship of the author are truly awe-inspiring. Professor Lamb, an acknowledged expert in the field of climatic change, will surely earn further kudos for this magnificent work. Following a brief introductory chapter entitled "Man's awareness of climatic changes", the main section of the b o o k -- Part III (530 pages approximately) -- discusses climatic history. The first o f the six chapters in this part is the longest in the b o o k (260 p a g e s ) a n d deals with the evidence of climates over the past million years and the methods of dating that evidence. Information and deductions are drawn from a multiplicity of source material and techniques. Botanical, astronomical, geophysical and biological sciences are among the many availed o f and a sample of the topics covered includes dendrochronology, lake bed deposits, archaeology, pollen deposits, volcanic activity, magnetic fields, sea, lake and river levels. Much of this section is an exposition of the research and results reported b y various workers b u t also includes many results and opinions communicated personally to the author. The next five chapters deal with climatic changes during the various periods from the pre-Quaternary through Quaternary, postglacial, historical to instrumental. The last chapter covers a period of 200--300 years and, as one would expect, there is a lot less theorising as to what may have happened and a lot more factual data and definitive statements as to what did happen during this period. A useful section consisting of over 100 pages o f supplementary tables of climatic parameters is included as an appendix to Part III. The future gets a rather summary treatment in Part IV. The first of the
365
two chapters is an interesting overview of "Man-made climatic changes" including both deliberate and inadvertent climate modification. Finally a chapter entitled "Approaches to the problem of forecasting" deals mainly with medium range and seasonal forecasts and reference is made to some of the economic benefits which would accrue from reliable predictions. An appendix lists 24 "scientifically based climate forecasts known to have been issued" and the author comments on their degree of success (or otherwise) -suffice it to say that the breakthrough is still awaited. The remaining 120 pages are devoted to references, subject and geographical indexes. For a volume of this size, there are gratifyingly few printing or other such errors; I f o u n d less than a dozen. Reference is made (p. 26) to Plate I as illustrating a sample page from a ship's log; a log is indeed illustrated but one of the tree variety which portrays the yearly growth ring sequences. A reference to the frequency of drift ice at the coast of Ireland (p. 583) surprised somewhat; the later text indicated that Iceland was the c o u n t r y in question. There is an a m o u n t of repetition throughout the book and some judicious pruning would certainly seem worthwhile. The immediate intelligibility of parts of the text was not facilitated by the author's habit o f putting long statements in parentheses in the middle of equally long sentences. In a number of cases, the footnotes occupied between one third and two thirds of the page and these tended to become tiresome and to distract from the main theme. However these are relatively minor criticisms and are not intended to detract from the value of a book which is heartily recommended as a " m u s t " for all serious students of climate. E. J. MURPHY Dublin