Review of books: Atlas do Brasil; Atlas of Israel

Summary

This review compares the Atlas of Brazil and the Atlas of Israel, illustrating the contrasting problems confronting national cartography in a vast, underdeveloped country and a small, highly developed state. The Brazilian atlas, produced by the Conselho Nacional de Geografia, is essentially a geographical sketch organized by regions, national themes, and states; its maps cover relief, climate, vegetation, population, economy, and transport, using physiographic diagrams as the only novel technique, and remain simple and legible despite modest drafting. The Atlas of Israel, edited by J. Elster and M. Gordon, provides a detailed examination of physical, historical, demographic, economic, and educational distributions, incorporating a facsimile of the Madaba Map and modern topographic series. Its drafting and reproduction reach a high standard, with an experimental combination of hill-shading and coloured contours, placing it among the best national atlases.