The world of ice is a comprehensive résumé of the distribution, formation and results of the action of ice all over our planet. It is an extremely readable book and should do a great deal to bring one of the lesser-known sciences before a wider audience. The author deals with all types of glaciers, their characteristics, the resulting geomorphology and what scientific work is being carried out on ice. There are sections devoted to sea ice and permafrost and the last quarter of the book discusses the chronology and dating of the Pleistocene glaciation, describing in detail the work which has been done so far in North America on the identification of the various drifts.
It is one of the most difficult assignments to write on a scientific subject for the general reader and in doing so one is apt to resort to wordy descriptions and not present facts. The writer has not altogether avoided this pitfall. His desire to attract interest and be graphic may well result in some strange misconceptions. Such a phrase as “… the main snow cover beats a rapid retreat northward across Canada … before finally retiring into the Greenland icecap” tends to be journalistic rather than strictly correct.
It is a pity that not more than 24 pages of this book are devoted to sea ice and of these over half deal with the occupation of ice floes and ice islands in the Arctic. This seems an extremely small proportion of a book on the ice of the world when one considers that the area covered by permanent sea ice is almost as great as that covered by permanent land ice. On the other hand, a great number of pages are devoted to permafrost and the writer has given an extremely well-balanced description of the results, causes and properties of frozen ground.
There are a number of statements which may be challenged by experts. For example, the writer says that the snow cover in the Southern Hemisphere is lacking apart from the southern tip of South America and Tasmania. Surely parts of the South Island of New Zealand can be considered as having a permanent snow cover? In fact, many may think that Australia itself, in the south-east, has more permanent snow than Tasmania.
The book is extremely lavishly and well illustrated and the photographs have been chosen to amplify the text and illustrate all aspects of ice. Unfortunately, the method of reproduction has often resulted in over-dark prints which are lacking in contrast. It is also very noticeable that in the text, references, and in particular in the photographs, the majority of the examples are from North America. Less than a quarter of all the photographs are from areas outside this continent and there is only one photograph from South America and one from Asia (from the Caucasus).
There is a useful glossary at the end of the book although many may argue with the definition of the term “glaciology”. By derivation the word “glaciology” means the study of ice generally and not only glaciers and this is accepted by the majority of glaciologists.
