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Polar Deserts and Modern Man, Edited by Terah L. Smiley And REVIEWS 151 An example of onesuch spurious com- aridity, explicitlyincludes ice-free areas of parison is the single Copper Eskimo kayak Antarctica as well as the High Arctic. collected by theFifth Thule Expedition. The mostinteresting parts of the bock Although it is said to be from Tree River or occur where authors pay some attention to Bernard Harbour, it isclearly an aberrant the stated objjctivea.Thus, for example, type, probably obtained from the Netsiling- Giovinetto, and also Bovis and Barry, tackle miut in trade. It is not at all similar to one theproblems of defining a “polar de8e.rt’’ in the NationalMuseums of Canada collected competently and interestingly, P6w6 develops in 1913-16 by Diamond’Jenness,or to others at least some general points of comparison inmuseum collections elsewhere. Further- between warm and cold deserts (low precipi- more, the narrow-bladed paddle described by tation but fluvial activity much in evidencq Birket-Smithis quiteunlike the verywide role of winds, etc.) and Cameron tabulates cupped paddles collected by Jenness. characteristics of soils in both types of desert. The book’s mainvalue lies in Taylor‘s With few exceptions, however, other authors careful and detailed descriptions of the Net- pay little but lip service to desertsof any silik artefacts and as such is a very useful kind, particularly to low-latitude deserts. addition to any Arctic library. It is heartening It is especially sad that the last two sec- to see an addition to the long-neglected study tions do not come to grips, even in general of material culture, particularly so in this terms, with some of the exciting possibilities case whereit involves a high quality collection raised by the “applied” part of the objectives. of earlyEskimo material neverpreviously The relative brevity of these sections is a published in toto. reflection of the continuing ascendancy of the David W.Zimmerly physical and biologicalsciences in polar regions.One hopes thatthe balance is changing and that more work like, for ex- POLAR DESERTS AND MODERN MAN. ample, that in the paper by Wig,“Pro- EDITED BY TERAHL. SMILEYand JAMES H. cesses and costs imposed by environmental ZUMBERGE.Tucson, Arizona: University of stress”, will be forthcoming. Arizona Press, 1974. 9% x 12% inches, I73 No doubt many possible polar applications pages, illustrated. $11 SO. of knowledge and experience gained in low- latitude deserts were discussed at the sympo- This is a collection of paperspresented at sium in response to these papers which are, the Polar Deserts Symposium sponsored by in general, competent in themselves. Because the Committee on Arid Lands of the Ameri- themajority of theauthors appear to be canAssociation forthe Advancement of scholars with predominantly polar, especially Science, late in 1971. Many of the chapters, arctic, experience, such points almost inevita- however,show evidence of further work, bly do not receive attention in their papers. includingreferences as late as 1973. The The dramatic entryof the oil industry into volume is cloth bound, of good quality paper, cold desert areas helped to stimulate the or- with clearphotographs and diagrams of a ganization of the symposium at which these good size. papers were presented. Couldnot this volume, The chapters are grouped under three sec- possibly with a little more antarctic content, tions: Natural Environment (102 pages,in- provide the poldr briefing for a second um- ’ cluding the article on nativepeoples), Ece ference which might have a greater concern nomic Basis for Development (14 pages), and with low-latitudes? Problems of Immigrants (39 pages). The W.P. Adam theme, as developed in the Preface, is that of “@e polar desertswith respect to their CLIMATE CANADA. BY F. KENNETHHARE physical and biologicalcharacteristics in rela- and MORLEYK. THOMAS. Toronto: John tion to intensifieddevelopment in polar Wiley, 1974. 71/e x 9% inches, 256 pages, areas . exploring similaritiesand differences illustrated. $8.95. between the polar desertsand low-latitude deserts . (and) . how man might apply Theappearance of Clime Canada marks knowledge gained by a long historyof occupa- theentry into the increasinglycompetitive tion of the latter areas.” fieldof introductory university-levelclima- A working definition of “polar desert” is tologytextbooks of a work of regional proposed (under 25 cm of precipitation, with specialization. The book is intended to pro- a mean July temperatureof below l0T) and vide “a simple descriptive account of Can- thematter, of course, receives attention in ada’s climatesand their interaction with man” themain body of the volume.“Polar”, as for college and university students and inter- mightbe expected, given the concernwith disciplinary environmental scientists. .
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