The Mountain World is the English representative of a publication which appears in three languages—being parallel to Berge der Welt and Montagnes du Monde—and all three issues are produced by the Schweizerische Stiftung für Alpine Forschungen in Zürich.

Although it is primarily intended for mountaineers there is much in it that will be of interest, and indeed of value, to glaciologists.

Over 50 pages in both the issues under review are devoted to photographs of mountain scenery. Many of them are of considerable interest in showing the present glacier and ice cover in different parts of the world. Quite apart from their usefulness these illustrations, reproduced in that perfect style in which Swiss printers excel, have an artistic beauty that must appeal to everyone, scientist and layman alike.

In the 1958–59 volume there is an article by the well-known glaciologist Fritz Müller entitled “Eight months of glacier and soil research in the Everest region”, which includes, inter alia, preliminary results of the speed of the Khumbu Glacier with comments on earlier estimates which appear to be too high. Most valuable in this article is a detailed plan of this glacier showing its tributary glaciers, crevasses, ice pinnacles and recent moraines.

In the 1960–61 edition, in addition to the first-rate glacier photographs already mentioned, there are also a few useful maps of glacier-covered regions in the Andes and the Karakoram, and there is a large inset map measuring 76 × 76 cm. of the whole of the Mount McKinley area of Alaska, surveyed and edited by Bradford Washburn.

Also of importance to the glaciologist is an article by another well-known member of this Society, Professor H. Hoinkes, on “The Antarctic during the International Geophysical Year” which shows magnificent views of several parts of the Ice Sheet and the mountains rising from it. While naturally there is much in this article describing travel from point to point there is also information about air temperatures, the rock base and the ice elevations. There is also a map of Antarctica showing positions of the 46 stations working simultaneously during the International Geophysical Year.

The reviewer, however, cannot help again expressing his wonder that there is no consistency in the setting of maps of Antarctica. Since all other maps mark the meridian of Greenwich vertically, why do some of Antarctica, like this one, show it horizontally? While of course everything from the South Pole lies to the north it would still be best if all maps showing it conformed to one orientation.

Enough has been written here to repeat the point made at the outset of this review—that these works, of which there are now eight volumes in the Society’s library going back to 1947, are well worth the consideration of its members.