The Atlas of Water

Numerous books have been written on varied aspects of water like ‘Water and terrorism’, ‘Environmental justice and water’, ‘Water on Mars’ etc. (Peter Gleick, World’s Water, 2003), or even depicting the story of water through photo journalism (‘Water: Our thirsty world’, National Geographic, April 2010). But this book is altogether an exception. It is a pioneering work unraveling the water world comprehensively in a unique format of fascinating analysis and illustrated by data charts, figures, photographs with lucid narration. The title is significant. Atlas is the Greek God who holds the Heavens, the mother of all waters, showering rains on earth. Water sustains life on earth. Through a series of maps the Atlas reflects on the entire gamut of water issues, peppered with short account of events, and focusses on almost all crucial aspects. The statistics are well researched. This makes the book attractive for school children and adult researchers alike. With water shortage breaking out in different parts of the world and as various prophesies by experts abound both in print media and seminar deliberations, such a book was an urgent necessity, since public knowledge of the subject is rather incomplete or dim.