Scholastic New Headline World Atlas (Hammond Atlases) [Paperback]

Hammond World Atlas Corporation (Author), Corporation Hammond World Atlas (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0843708646 | ISBN-13: 978-0843708646 | Publication Date: February 2005 | Edition: 2 Revised

Perfect for students, this conveniently-sized atlas is an excellent tool for learning about our changing world. Political boundaries are clearly distinguished with contrasting bands of pleasing color, making countries easy to identify. Type is crisp, making place names and text easy to read, and the atlas a pleasure to study.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Since 2000. Hammond, American Map, Langenscheidt Dictionaries, Insight travel Guides, Delorme - the famous names in the Langenscheidt family. These represent the most authoritative, up-to-date, and extensive travel and reference products available. In January 2003, the renowned Berlitz Publishing became part of the Langenscheidt Group. The Langenscheidt Publishing Group, the premier group of map and travel companies, offers over 4,000 North American and international street maps, road maps, atlases. language-learning, bilingual dictionaries, and travel-related products covering countries, cities, and languages in every continent.

Product Details

• Paperback: 52 pages
• Publisher: Hammond Incorporated; 2 Revised edition (February 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0843708646
• ISBN-13: 978-0843708646
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 8.1 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #659,673 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Just Okay. Depends what you're looking for..., June 21, 2007

By 

amanooensis (Flyover Country) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Scholastic New Headline World Atlas (Hammond Atlases) (Paperback)

I was expecting more. Maybe I was confused by the title "Headline Atlas," especially when coupled with the publisher's description that it "[reflects] the most current status of world nations."

As you can see, the publisher emphasizes "thematic maps... topography, population, land use and mineral resources... world statistics... [and] a discussion of map projections and how computer-generated maps are created." You'd think you were getting a broad-based geographic text, with perhaps some kind of historical commentary (what else do they mean by "current status of world nations" after all?)

But that's not what this book is about. Above all, it's an atlas: a collection of maps.

Is that bad? So what if it's skimpy in other areas. What's the beef? Well, again the publisher's description is misleading, in my view: "Each country's political boundary is clearly distinguished with a contrasting band of colour to help make this atlas easy to read."

In my opinion, that "contrasting band of color" is a MAJOR impediment to making any sense of these maps. I mean, the maps are necessarily small to begin with. Then they put a band of color along each country border, which (for instance) may put half of a city name in color, leaving the other half white, or the like.

And at the scales in these maps, that "band of color" may be 20, 50 or 100 miles wide. It's an artificial, antiquated technique for map-making that makes it harder, not easier, to see things.

Besides getting in the way of some text, all those colored lines make the page visually busy. Add that to the small print, plus the necessity of breaking the world up into arbitrary sections to fit into the pages, and, well, I just think it's a pain to look at, much less rely on for serious reference.

It is indeed a thin and compact volume, which another reviewer thought were positive attributes. But I don't understand the virtue of such portability, to the detriment of all else.

It is hard for me to imagine somebody needing to drag around a seriously-compromised "atlas" like this. If one is in a geography class, presumably one has a geography book on hand. If one is doing homework, then one can find a larger, better-printed, "student atlas" to buy for one's home. Or, for free, use a really nice atlas in a public libaray.

So, if you really need something thin and light, to have on hand if you are away from home and suddenly need to know where Tibet is, I suppose this book is just the thing. For any other research or study purpose, I just don't think it's worth the money, even when on sale like it is here. If you spend twice as much as this book costs, I really believe you can get an atlas with more than twice as much information, that is more than twice as easy to use. And for all that, you'll be more than twice as likely to actually use it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Perfect Size, August 18, 2005

By 

eshopper "L.C." (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Scholastic New Headline World Atlas (Hammond Atlases) (Paperback)

This is a handy little atlas. Regular book size makes it easy to transport. Lots of information. I would have liked a map of the world that was a fold out. It would be larger and easier to read.