The title of this volume, although appropriate, is

not really indicative of its content. It becomes

more than a book on structural glaciology through

its detailed treatment of many facets of glaciology,

which the author defines as the science of natural

ice in all its aspects. People interested in ground

ice, sea ice, lake ice, glaciers, and snow, among

other topics, will find much of value in this book.

Shumskii professes to have a primary interest in

the petrology of ice rocks and the laws of their

formation, but he carefully develops a foundation

of basic information before treating the specific

topics of structural glaciology

Sharp, Robert P.

Caltech Authors - Main

670 R E V I E W S 
weather and climate. The intricacies of the cir­
culation are well described, as is the newly gained 
knowledge on cloud physics and dynamics, severe 
storms, and hurricanes. The characteristics of 
weather and climate in various parts of the globe 
are lucidly discussed. On page after page the facts 
are discussed by someone with direct experience 
with the phenomena. There is not the usually thin 
filtrate from the work of others that often makes 
elementary books such unpalatable fare. There is, 
however, no neglect or lack of credit given to the 
many who have contributed to the advancement of 
meteorology in the past decades; the author has 
interwoven their work skillfully with his own. 
Only a few minor slips were noted. 
Considerable emphasis is placed on the practical 
applications of meteorology, from the intelligent 
use of the daily forecasts and warnings to the 
long-range implication of climatic statistics for 
water supplies and flood damage prevention. The 
realities and prospects of weather and climate 
control are also presented in proper perspective. 
In all it is an enjoyable book to read. It should bo 
profitable to those who want a nonmathematical 
but nonetheless technical review of modern mete­
orology. Students in related fields, such as hydrol­
ogy, agronomy, forestry, and resource conserva­
tion, will find it very useful. The many well-drawn 
illustrations help the reader to visualize the com­
plex happenings in the turbulent shell that .sur­
rounds the globe. The book is certainly an intro­
duction that will lead to more than just casual 
acquaintance. 
II. E . Landsborg 
ROLL, H . XL, Physics of the Marine Atmosphere, 
vol. 7 of the International Geophysics! Series, 
Academic Press, New York and London, 4 2 6 pp., 
1965, $ 1 5 . 0 0 . 
This book is a monumental effort that should bo 
in the hands of every student of meteorology, 
oceanography, or any activity related to marine 
science. An undergraduate training in physical 
science is required to make full use of the mate­
rial, but a biologist or even an interested layman 
could find much useful and comprehensible in­
formation. The bibliography and documentation 
of recent research are excellent and very nearly 
complete. 
The book treats the physics of the marine at­
mosphere primarily from the viewpoint of sea-air 
interaction and the ocean's role in the structure 
and motions of the air; it is not, however a trea­
tise on sea-air interaction since the ocean side of 
the boundary is considered only as it affects the 
air and very little as the ocean is affected by the 
atmosphere in turn. 
The book begins with a section on meteorologi­
cal observations at sea. Although excellent in con­
tent, the order of presentation is unfortunate since 
it tends to overemphasize tools too early in the 
game rather than treating the more inspiring area 
of problems. This minor deficiency and a few 
others are more than compensated for by the 
major sections on atmospheric chemistry, boun­
dary flow, and thermodynamics of the boundary 
regions. A comprehensive treatment of airborne 
nuclei has long been needed and is found here. 
The temptation to overemphasize boundary hy­
drodynamics from the engineering or theoretical 
standpoint is avoided by a beautiful section on 
thermodynamics and convective processes. 
The book's faults are few and largely necessi­
tated b y the complexity and vast unknown areas 
of the subject. The author walks skillfully the 
tight rope between despair at this situation on the 
one hand and dogmatic presentation of inade­
quate or oversimplified fragments of research on 
the other. Frequently, however, some sections read 
like abstracts rather than a text—an attempt to be 
comprehensive and yet not too lengthy. The indi­
vidual chapters have an organizing framework, 
particularly where they include areas of the au-
I liar's own fine research. An over-all unifying 
framework is, however, not quite apparent, pos­
sibly, this reviewer believes, because of under-
emphasis on large-scale circulations. These circu­
lations patently regulate, indirectly or directly, 
all the processes that the writer describes. This is 
in line with a criticism of the final chapter—a 
statement by the author that the primary need in 
this science is more data. The reviewer agrees that 
more data are a basic and urgent need, but surely 
data are of little use to advance knowledge or 
prediction without a physical or theoretical frame­
work to organize and guide them. 
In conclusion the author is to be congratulated 
on a fine and valuable contribution and on his 
excellent use of the English language, particularly 
since English is not his native tongue. 
Joanne Malkus Simpson 
SHIIMSK.II, P. A.., Principles of Structural Glaciol­
ogy (Translated from the Russian by David 
Kraus) , Dover Publications, New York, 497 pp., 
1964, S3.00. 
The title of this volume, although appropriate, is 
not really indicative of its content. It becomes 
more than a book on structural glaciology through 
its detailed treatment of many facets of glaciology, 
which the author defines as the science of natural 
ice in all its aspects. People interested in ground 
ice, sea ice, lake ice, glaciers, and snow, among 
other topics, will find much of value in this book. 
Shumskii professes to have a primary interest in 
the petrology of ice rocks and the laws of their 
formation, but he carefully develops a foundation 
of basic information before treating the specific 
topics of structural glaciology. 
The original manuscript was finished in 1951, 
with additions made in early 1952. Thus, the 
material is 14 years old, and the intervening years 
have seen rapid progress in glaciology. Nonethe­
less, the volume is surprisingly useful, partly 
because it gives an insight into Russian glaciologi-
cal work but especially because it provides a more 
comprehensive digest and summary of glaciological 
R E V I E W S 671 
material than is now available in any single Eng­
lish source. 
Russian territory embraces a lot of ice, and 
through the years Russian scientists have devel­
oped a high level of competence in glaciology. 
This is well demonstrated by Shumskii's book 
itself and by the many citations to the Russian 
literature. It is apparent that to some degree the 
thoughts of Russian and Western glaciologists 
have evolved along parallel paths. 
The organizational focus on structural and peno­
logical aspects of ice as a major theme can mask 
the additional wealth of useful information avail­
able in the book. For instance, T h e chmamic 
metamorphism of ice' (Chapter 1 4 ) is introduced 
by an excellent 28-page review of thoughts, 
theories, and concepts pertinent to problems of 
glacial flow. One might not expect to find such 
material in this book and probably not under the 
heading noted above. Chapter 3 on the basic 
physical properties of ordinary ice is a better com­
pendium of basic information than most of us who 
are interested in the subject have been able 
to glean from a decade of searching through dis­
persed sources in the literature. Much of this 
information is as sound and useful today as it was 
in 1952 . 
Coverage of European literature outside of 
Russia is good, but the Western literature receives 
much less attention. However, Shumskii does 
better by Western ideas than most of us would 
have done for Russian concepts if we had pre­
pared a similar treatise. Commendably, the author 
does not hesitate to introduce material based on 
his own work where proper and pertinent. 
There seems to be scant reason for trying to 
point out weaknesses in this work. This reviewer 
likes this book . It is not a must for all workers in 
glaciology, but those newly entering the field can 
save much time b y selected readings therein. Well-
informed readers will also discover some new 
ideas and some new approaches to old problems. 
Almost anyone interested in ice will find this a 
useful reference. 
David Kraus has done a most careful, devoted 
job of translation. He has gone to much pain to 
use easily comprehensible yet scientifically sound 
terms. The best tribute that can be paid Kraus is 
to say that one does not feel as though he were 
reading a translation as he peruses Shumskii's book. 
Robert P . Sharp 
WALT, MARTIN, ( E D . ) , Auroral Phenomena, First 
Lockheed Research Symposium on Space Sci­
ence, Stanford University Press, Stanford, Calif., 
and Oxford University Press, London, 170 pp., 
1965, $ 6 . 5 0 . 
This collection of papers, presented in somewhat 
different form at a symposium sponsored by Lock­
heed Missiles and Space Compan3% is an authorita­
tive summary of current experimental work on the 
polar aurora. 
It is the clearest account available on the state 
of research in this subject. 
Chapter 1, 'Morphology of Auroral Displays, 5 by 
C. T . Elvey, is interesting because of Elvey's 
attempt to classify all auroras into five classes. 
His groups are polar-glow aurora, polar-cap (dis­
crete), high red arcs (Stormer type 3 homogeneous 
arcs), medium-high gray arcs, and conventional 
auroral zone aurora. These groups are based on 
geometry, height, and spectral characteristics. This 
chapter also contains a short account of Davis's 
work with the low-light-level television that en­
ables cinematography of changing aurora. 
The chapter 'Optical Measurements of Auroras,' 
by A. Vallance Jones, is a thorough review of the 
spectroscopy of the aurora. This should be a first 
reference for students of this subject. 
The chapter 'Interaction of Energetic Charged 
Particles with the Atmosphere/ by A. Dalgarno, 
is a relatively brief summary. 
The long chapter Balloon Measurements of 
X Rays in the Auroral Zone, by Kinsey A. Ander­
son, is a very fine account. 
Chapter 5, 'Precipitation of Energetic Particles 
into the Atmosphere,' by B. J. O'Brien, is excellent. 
Especially valuable are the data on the relation 
of trapped particles to the usual auroral zone. 
'Electromagnetic Measurements of Auroras,' b y 
R. L. Leadabrand of Stanford Research Institute, 
brings together all aspects of the subject. It also 
points out the difficulties of reconciling the vari­
ous observations and theories and indicates the 
direction that further research might well take. 
Chapter 7, 'Coordinated Measurements on 
Auroras,' by J. E. Evans, gives first results on 
coordinated experiments involving satellites, air­
planes, and ground observers. This enormously 
difficult and frustrating type of experiment should 
be tried more frequently. The chapter b y Elvey 
makes it clear that one successful attempt is not 
enough because of the various types of aurora. 
Joseph W . Chamberlain's chapter, The Present 
Status of Auroral Theory, shows the unsatisfactory 
state of all present theories and pleads for more 
quantitative work. 
The Summary, b y Anders Omholt, is an attempt 
to refocus attention on some particular problems 
and points of view. Perhaps this chapter should be 
read first. 
This small volume is a refreshing summary of 
the research in this field. It also shows the im­
portance of the field—importance that was not 
anticipated by scientists 2 5 years ago. 
Carl W . Gartlein 


Principles of Structural Glaciology [Book Review]

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