Thoughtful people everywhere, but particularly in North America, are disturbed by the increasing number and seriousness of the problems associated with water resources. The Royal Society of Canada, impressed by the gravity of this situation, and by the multi-disciplinary nature of the specialized knowledge needed to cope with it, chose Water Resources as the main theme for its 1966 annual meeting.
The topic has been broadly interpreted here: most of the papers were presented by the Science Section of the Society but contributions from all its Sections are included, covering political, historical and sociological aspects of the problem in addition to the physical, biological and even mathematical aspects. The contents comprise twenty-three essays, grouped into six parts under self-explanatory headings—"Pros and Cons of Canadian Water Export"; "Water, an Indispensable Resource"; "The St. Lawrence, Then and Now"; "The Great Lakes: Unique Features and Peculiar Problems"; "Physico-Mathematical Studies of Water"; and "The Biological Necessities and Hazards of Water." The contributors to this volume include Senator Frank E. Moss, the late General A.G.L. McNaughton, Pierre Camu, Hilda Neatby, Benoit Brouillette, A.D. Misener, and F.R. Hayes.
This work is authoritative without being highly technical. It can be read profitably by all scientists and health workers professionally involved in the conservation of water resources everywhere. In addition, the non-scientific citizen can find much in this book that is enlightening and impressive about this inescapable and vital problem.
(Royal Society of Canada Studia Varia Series No. 11)