MAPS FOR REFERENCE

New Zealand Listener, Volume 31, Issue 796, 22 October 1954, Page 13

MAPS FOR REFERENCE

OXFORD ECONOMIC ATLAS OF THE WORLD, prepared by the Economist Intelligence Unit and the Cartographic Department of the Clarendon Press, Oxtord, English price 30/- "| HIS work is intended by the publishers to become a standard book of reference for geographers, economists and all those interested in agriculture, commerce and _ industry who _ need factual information about international production and trade. Until this atlas was published, those in need of information would have to go to the reports of the F.A.O., International Monetary Fund. Economic Commissions of the United Nations, the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation, the Commonwealth Economic Committee, Trade and Navigation Accounts of the United Kingdom, the Statistical Yearbook of the UN and the Monthly Bulletin of the UN. Obviously this kind of digging for facts requires trained research workers, an adequate library such as only Government departments and _ universities could maintain, and the time to do the research. The departments and the uni--versities will still need their more ‘detailed sources, but for day to day uses the Oxford Economic Atlas of the World should be useful, and. of course, it brings much more information very cheaply indeed to a wider group. For example, the teachers in social studies in secondary schools should find -the work valuable. Of course, like some New Zealand statistical publications, all such compilations take tin, to produce. This atlas, published in 1954, uses for its industrial and mineral statistics and maps. the figures for the years 1949-51 and the agricultural figures are a year earlier, But for most general purposes this does not matter and the physical facts affecting crop production do not alter much nor are there usually rapid changes in the distribution of industria! production. | The excellent maps include the world’s soils, rainfall, vegetation, tem(continued on next page)

(continued from previous page) perature, relief. political boundaries, population and communications, as well as commodity distribution throughout the world in cereals, fruit and wine, beverages, forest products, vegetable oils, animal products, fibres, rubber, textiles, fuel, power, iron and steel, non-ferrous minerals and industrial products. The international trade in various products is shown in coloured diagrams, and there is a factual discussion on each product. Over one-third of the book deals with countries and territories with the main economic facts about each. The producers of this book deserve congratulations for their industry and

enterprise.

W. B.

Sutch