Customer Reviews

National Geographic Atlas of the World, Eighth Edition

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(45)

 

 

This is a beautiful book, one which I almost passed over because of the very low rating.

Does no one at Amazon edit these reviews? Virtually all of the 1 or 2 star ratings are about one (possibly inappropriately-applied) name that provoked intense nationalistic fervor and a semi-comprehensible rant which has nothing to do with the overall quality of the atlas. Some of them even accused National Geographic of having been bought out by enemies of certain nations. Get a grip...

In December 2004, National Geographic (NG) updated the Persian Gulf plate (Plate 75) to accomodate the controversies surrounding the place-names used in the 8th edition.

Here is my understanding of the changes made:

1. The term "Arabian Gulf" in parenthesis has been deleted. Instead, there is a small note that reads: "Historically and commonly known as the Persian Gulf, this body of water is also referred by some as the Arabian Gulf."

2. Persian names of all Iranian islands are used. (Kish instead of Qeys, Lavan alone instead of adding Sheykh Sha'eyb in parenthesis)

3. Deletion of "Occupied by Iran (Claimed by U.A.E.)" in reference to the islands Abu Musa, and Greater and Lesser Tunbs.

These changes already appear on the website (www.nationalgeographic.com/mapmachine) and will apply to further printings or editions of the NG Atlas. Also, on the password-protected website for NG Atlas owners, there is a "brief summary of the historical origin of the term Persian Gulf". There is also a note on the place-naming policy of NG. (The online update feature is great - you can download and/or print updated plates and put them in your atlas. This not new for NG Atlases, except that they used to send updates by mail.)

Overall, I am impressed with NG's response to this situation. I am also very impressed with the quality of the atlas and its contents, except for the outermost/superficial binding paper. I have had the atlas for about 6 months, and with moderate use, the paper around the bottom of the spine has frayed. The binding itself is intact, though.

I found the quality, accuracy, and ease of this atlas underwhelming for the price. It's the most expensive atlas out there, but has nothing on Hammond, Oxford, or Goode's--all of which are half the price. Don't be fooled by the big marketing campaign. NG might be powerful, but it doesn't make the best atlases.

Having researched most atlases at both public and university libraries, I am in the position to state this is the best atlas in the world, best of the best. Although I am only talking about the atlas quality and not the price.

Let's face it, an atlas like this is a big investment (as far as books go) and it should to be reliable, beautiful, and easy to use. It has the beauty, but I think it sacrifices simplicity in order to appear stunning. I didn't find much about this atlas that was more impressive than the ones that are in the next price-range down. A big fuss was made about the satellite images, but if you look closely, the cartographers have colored them in--I want to feel as good about our planet and it's fecundity as the next person, but doesn't an atlas have a responsibility to show the earth as it really is if it's going to include photographs from space? It may be more educational to see what the earth really looks like and what we're doing to it instead of coloring in green everywhere. I know that photos from satellites mess up color, but is this the best way to fix it? I think National Geographic is great, but this atlas left me with the feeling that I'd spent too much money.

The National Geographic Society has completely restructured its World Atlas for its 7th edition and in so doing has transformed the book from what was a fairly traditional, yet highly esthetic visual piece into book that remains high on esthetics yet soars in terms of it's usefulness as a resource and reference book.
The atlas contains the more traditional renderings that have for so long characterized this series. However, at the heart of this spectacular new volume are more than 75 state-of-the-art political and physical maps that draw on National Geographic's digital cartographic database to achieve the highest level of precision available in the marketplace today. In addition to sections pertaining to each of the seven continents, you will be pleased to find information about world tectonics, biodiversity and natural resources along with coverage of the solar system, the universe, and the world oceans. Additionally, an encyclopedic index of more than 140,000 entries lists every significant city and natural feature on the planet, and an improved system of map keys and locational devices makes it easy to navigate the book's wealth of information. The book also provides references to the NGS web site for visual updates and expanded access to updated databases.

All of the wiz-bang technology notwithstanding, the real benefit to the National Geographic Atlas has always been-and remains-its focus on the human aspects of geography. Maps relating to various historical, political, archeological, social and natural resource and other aspects of the human face of geography abound. This has always ben a NGS strength and it is on full display in this Atlas.

Completely redesigned, the "National Geographic Atlas of the World, Seventh Edition" will be a wonderful reference for your home or office library. Rich in facts, data and citations, up to date, aesthetically pleasing in the extreme and highly precise both visually and factually, it is a resource that anyone with school age children will appreciate-and depend on-- for years to come.

I do not teach geography but I use it everyday. The National Geographic Atlas is not a desk top reference, it is for exploring. It is a waste of time to say one atlas is better than another, much as it is to say one car is better than another. It all depends what you intend to use the atlas for. I have owned a Goodes and several CD-ROM atlas packages for years, these are an excellent desktop reference. The National Geographic is great to spark interest and become immersed in.
I remember as a child going to the library and opening the huge National Geographic Atlas to find something and getting lost. Since then I looked forward to being able to afford the book. The excuse I used to purchase the atlas was my elementary aged son asking for more maps of the world to look at.
The graphics are excellent. The use of satellite images is a high point of the book. The use of false color images (Most satellite photos are presented this way.) is very well integrated with standard cartographic images. In the future this is where many geographics publications will move to.
CD/DVD based atlas texts are good for quick checks, but you can be limited by the size of your monitor. To look at it another way, the National Geographic Atlas of the World is a lot cheaper than a 27 inch LCD or plasma monitor.

The 7th edition of the National Geographic Society (NGS) Atlas of the World is very much "evolutionary" rather than "revolutionary". Besides updated boundaries, etc., compared to prior editions it makes much better use of shading to indicate topography and has more detailed city maps. I buy an atlas primarily for the maps, and it's the maps that make the NGS Atlas superior to all others.

The traditional NGS "look" sometimes seems dated compared to the flashier colors and trendy graphics employed by some other publishers. However, the more I study the maps, the more information I find in them. A few months ago I did a comparison of this NGS with the most recent edition of the much more expensive Times Atlas of the World for a professional geographer's meeting. I was amazed to find that many of the NGS maps of North America had more than twice as many place names and named physical features as the Times Atlas. I also found the NGS Atlas maps equal or superior to the Times' maps for parts of the Middle East and northeast Asia with which I'm familiar (frankly, I found the 10th Edition Times Atlas inferior to the prior edition in several regards; for example, the elevation colors are far less discernable and detailed city maps have been virtually eliminated). Despite contrary opinions by some other reviewers, I judge the National Geographic Atlas maps to be far and away superior in content and sheer volume of information presented to all the other "high end" atlases published by Oxford, Hammond and DK. In fact, I couldn't justify recommending any of the other atlases (except possibly the Times, which, I admit, does offer fantastic detail for village names in the rural plains of India where I hope to never visit) to a library.

The National Geographic Society Atlas of the World is a great investment for travel planning, tracking current events, studying geography and history or just reading maps for pleasure. I recommend it highly.

We have owned a National Geographic atlas for the past 25 years but it was badly out of date. We were able to purchase a new one
through Amazon with a substantial saving over the publishers cost. We are very happy with the atlas and its condition was as
new.

For thousand years the gulf south of iran has always been known to the world as Persian gulf ,pethaticly they named it Arabic gulf in this new version,then i guess after sep/11 and war on "terrorism", arabs are friend more than ever!!