The world meteorological community know R.S. Scorer as author of numerous excellent papers and books. His last book is now in the hands of the readers. The title is somewhat unusual, implying that meteorological problems of the polluted atmosphere are under consideration.
   The Earth’s atmosphere at present time is no more a product solely of the natural evolution of our planet. Unlike the atmospheres of the other planets of the Solar system, it is polluted due to various men’s activities, particularly during the past century. The composition of the air and the properties of the atmosphere as a whole have changed compared to the pre-industrial period. In regional and local scales the changes are even much larger than the globally averaged ones. This concerns first of all the air pollution by various aerosol particles and gases emitted by the world largest cities and industrial centers. All those reasons justify establishment of a new branch of meteorology, namely “Air Pollution Meteorology”.

   The book is structured in five chapters and supplemented by a Technical Dictionary. The list of references is extremely short – only six titles, three of which belong to the author.

   CHAPTER 1. The meteorological science (20 pages)
   Basic information about the atmosphere is presented for those who are not familiar in this subject.

   CHAPTER 2. Chimneys: purpose and design (20 pages)
   Technical characteristics of the pollution sources (chimneys) are discussed in relation to the surrounding atmospheric condition (wind field, thermal convection etc.).

   CHAPTER 3. Dispersal in theory and practice (24 pages)    As the title implies, the dispersion of pollutants emitted by the sources in the atmosphere is considered mainly from conceptual theoretical point of view. Many diagrams illustrate the author’s ideas about this process. No formulas are presented.

   CHAPTER 4. Acid rain and development of gas washing (13 pages)
   The essence of the phenomenon is explained and the damages of the biosphere are discussed on a particular example (freshwater fish).

   CHAPTER 5. Environmental costs and benefits: a matrix for comparison of sources (22 pages)
   The unintentional modification of the atmosphere by the people can not be avoided but could be reduced to the acceptable levels. Selected aspects of this problem are discussed here.

   CHAPTER 6. Technical Dictionary (37 pages)
   The largest part of the book, an useful supplement especially for readers nonmeteorologists.

   A distinctive feature of the book as a whole is the abundance of photographs (88) of phenomena in natural conditions, occupying considerable part of the book’s volume.
   The author does not declare clearly to whom the book is intended. We think that it will be understandable and useful for a wide spectrum of readers, researchers and practitioners and why not of decision makers in this field.
   As to the specialists – meteorologists, they will enjoy in addition to the Scorer’s style and skill to say many thins with minimum words.

Prof. S. Panchev
Bulgarian Acad. Sci. and
University of Sofia

To those, interested in the book, Prof. Scorer will kindly give information
Richard Scorer