The National Atlas of the United States of America

This paper reviews earlier plans and work on a National Atlas of the United States and describes the purpose, scope, and characteristics of the new edition being prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey following a recommendation by the National Academy of Sciences. It details and justifies specifications for map content, scales, type, symbols, colors, paper quality, and binding style, summarizes a marketing study based on 8,000 questionnaires, analyzes the atlas's relation to regional and general reference atlases, and outlines electronic computer methods used for indexing.