The Atlas of Israel

Summary

This paper reviews two major geoscientific publications: the ongoing *National Atlas of Israel* and the first volume of Erich Bruns’ *Ozeanologie* (Oceanology). The Israeli atlas, produced in large‑format fascicles under an expert editorial team, adopts a flexible cartographic design that eschews rigid scale series in favor of scales adapted to each thematic content. It encompasses fifteen sections, with particularly rich treatment of history, cartographic representation, and retrospective economic maps. Noteworthy innovations include a physiographic geomorphology with typological landscape classification, a correlation map combining drainage networks, watersheds and isohyets, biogeographical maps that place Israel within the wider distribution ranges of fauna, and detailed chorochromatic representations of vegetation change in the nineteenth century. Population maps use point symbols distinguishing Jewish and non‑Jewish inhabitants from 1922 to 1953, while settlement classification relies on topographic site types. Traffic intensity and long‑distance taxi isochrones offer an original view of communications. The atlas is published in Hebrew with English title lists; an English edition is planned, and the review regrets the current linguistic barrier. Bruns’ *Ozeanologie* treats oceanography in a narrow sense—submarine morphology, navigation, sounding methods, and a systematic regional description of the world’s oceans and seas. The first volume incorporates abundant Soviet data on tides, salinity, wave regimes, and the hydrology of Russian Arctic and Far Eastern seas, the Caspian and Aral Seas, and Lake Baikal, making it a valuable regional oceanographic reference for non‑Russian readers. Both works represent significant contributions: the atlas through its integrative, evolutionary approach to national geography, and the treatise through its compilation of otherwise inaccessible data. The paper underscores their scholarly utility while noting the inconvenience of language restrictions in the atlas.