Choice Review

Bras treats hydrology as a science all its own rather than simply as a response to environmental problems. His book integrates all physical aspects of the hydrologic cycle, including atmospheric dynamics, surface water, soil moisture, and groundwater, and also contains chapters on probability and fluvial geomorphology. Bras follows the middle ground between the environmental approach of Thomas Dunne and Luna B. Leopold, Water in Environmental Planning (CH, Apr'79), and the uncompromisingly deterministic Dynamic Hydrology by P.S. Eagleson (1970). Bras is a well-known authority on runoff phenomena. His is a classic approach that touches only lightly on numerical techniques, which are emphasized by Philip B. Bedient and Wayne C. Huber, Hydrology and Floodplain Analysis (CH, Jan'90). His treatment of groundwater, like that of most engineers, is rigorously analytical and barely hints at the geologic complexities that plague groundwater analysis. Topics are concisely and clearly presented, requiring a minimum of background in calculus and fluid mechanics. The book is thoroughly referenced and indexed, and each chapter contains pertinent, well-illustrated problems. Best suited to advanced undergraduates and graduate students, and recommended for college libraries serving science or engineering programs. -A. N. Palmer, SUNY College at Oneonta