EARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS, VOL. 7, 97-98 (1982)

BOOK REVIEWS

ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY. R. w. Raiswell, P. Brimblecombe, D. J. Dent, and P. S. Liss. Edward Arnold, London, 1980.

This book, which is sub-titled ‘The Earth-Air-Water Factor’ is the fourth to appear in a Resource and Environmental Science Series. Titles already published in this series are Environmental Economics, Energy Resources and Food and Energy and Society.

Environmental Chemistry is well written and realis- tically priced at f4.95 for the soft-bound 184 pages. The basic aim of Environmental Chemistry is stated to be to understand and therefore systematize, environmental data in terms of chemical principles. The book is organized based on the hydrological cycle with Chap- ters on the atmosphere (22 pages), the crust (45 pages), the oceans (31 pages) and finally the formation of mineral resources in sediments (23 pages). Then follows

a useful glossary explaining simply the chemical prin- ciples involved and a bibliography for more detailed reading.

The book is aimed at undergraduates, but should also be of interest to all concerned with environmental prob- lems. The approach the authors adopt, which is highly commendable, is that it is necessary to establish base- lines, the behaviour of the natural system, before considering the interaction of man. However the balance between what is often termed low-temperature geochemistry and environmental chemistry is possibly not quite right for a book in an environmental series. But then such a criticism is to do with definitions where few exist.

D. A. SPEARS Department of Geology

University of Shefleld

DIRECTORY OF NORTH AMERICAN GEOSCIENTISTS and interests in a way comparable to the BGRG ‘Reg- ENGAGED IN MATHEMATICS, STATISTICS AND COMPUTER ister of Current Research’. Copies of the directory may APPLICATIONS. 1980. Mathematical Geologists of the be obtained from James B. Campbell, Department of United States. $2.00 US. Geography, Virginia Polytechnic Institute Blacksburg,

Va 24061, USA for $2.75 US post paid within N. America: $3.75 from elsewhere. The MGUS was formed in 1976, to encourage the

use of mathematics and quantitative methods in the Earth Sciences. The first edition of their directory of members lists over 200 members with their affiliations M. J. KIRKBY

WATER MANAGEMENT IN ENGLAND AND WALES. Elizabeth Porter, Cambridge University Press. No. of pages: 178. Price: f14.50. ISBN 0-521-21865-9.

This book deals with a variety of aspects of water management ranging from legislation to groundwater management. It is written in a direct style and contains sufficient diagrams of fair quality. At various points the author poses a number of interesting questions and provokes thought along some novel lines. In attempting to cover a range of issues, however, continuity is lost and the text as a whole fails to develop a clear theme. Is it simply an information text? Does it seek to analyse the present management structure? Will it recommend a revision of management in areas found deficient? Again viewed as a whole the text lacks balance. Does spray irrigation deserve the same space as effluent disposal and

river pollution control? The most significant limitation to the book concerns completeness. The whole issue of catchment management and control is undeveloped yet water authorities are major land owners. There is insufficient material on issues such as demand prediction and control, direct billing, price equalization and control charges. A little more on systems of organization-by area or by function-would have helped to show the variations in the national picture.

At f14.50 the 160 or so pages of text is rather expensive and no doubt the cost factor explains the incomplete treatment given to some issues. It will make a useful addition to the background reading for courses dealing with water resource management in England.

ADRIAN MCDONALD University of Leeds

@ 1982 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.