GEIGER, RUDOLF. The Climate Near the Ground. Translated by Milroy N. Stewart and others from the second German edition. Pp. xxi, 482. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1950. $5.00

• Author: I.R. Tannehill
• DOI: 10.1177/0002716251274001106
• Date: 01 March 1951
• Published date: 01 March 1951
• Subject Matter: Articles

268
besides were written in- a miserable Ger-
microclimate of the tiny layer at the very
man&dquo; (p. 175). Ribbentrop had an idle
bottom of the atmosphere, and, in partic-
fixe about the Foreign Office : he wanted to
ular, within two meters of the ground.
dismiss all the old bureaucrats and replace
This is a decided contrast to the treatment
them with a &dquo;General Staff&dquo; composed of
so common in modern aviation meteorology
&dquo;the youngest, best representatives of the
where the lower atmosphere is the first
Hitler Youth, who haven’t been infected
thousand meters above the earth. In Part
with the atmosphere of the office&dquo; (p. 389).
I, he shows how heating and cooling of the
He did, in fact, set up a school for
atmosphere by.the sun’s rays and nocturnal
diplomats, at which the young candidates
radiation take place chiefly through this
were taught such &dquo;diplomatic&dquo; subjects as
bottom layer and the heat exchange with
fencing, riding, and boxing. The outbreak
the ground, producing myriad variations
of the war put an end to Ribbentrop’s hope-
in tempera ture, humidity, vapor pressure,
ful experiment.
wind, dust content, and visibility, as mod-
Kordt’s main effort is to answer the
ified by cloudiness and other factors. The
question as to whether the German people
effects of soil composition and color, to-
were destined by fate for their predicament
pography, water, snow, and other influences
or whether the catastrophe was avoidable.
are minutely examined.
He reveals how the hopes of a small group
In Part II the microclimate of a slightly
of conspirators, whose aim it was to rescue
deeper layer is considered in similar de-
the peace, were exploded by Hitler’s un-
tail, especially in relation to plants, animals,
canny luck. He confesses that at one time
and man and his activities. Here he in-
he was determined to assassinate Hitler;
troduces a number of practical applications
this is substantiated in Hans Gisevius’
to problems such...