This book is stated to be aimed at undergraduates who have not studied hydrology before and have a limited knowledge of physics and mathematics. To this aim many of the equations have textual annotations to help the less numerate students—although some may be overwhelmed by the overall number of equations (e.g. 116 for groundwater, 82 for soil moisture). There are two mathematical Appendices—one entitled “If you cannot do the maths” and a second longer one containing additional equations of flow.
The central core of the book are the chapters on the terrestrial part of the hydrological cycle, comprising groundwater (91 pages, 57 main diagrams), soil moisture (58 pages, 37 diagrams) and surface water (76 pages, 43 main diagrams). The drainage basin, weather and climate change are dealt with more briefly in 46 pages. This is certainly less strong, with some elementary mistakes, such as saying that ground level rain gauges are used to overcome the differences in rain depth between the rim height and the ground (rather than undercatch due to wind turbulence) or claiming that the Penman-Monteith evaporation equation includes interception.
It is overall a well written book, nicely produced, and particularly strong on subsurface hydrology. The clear black text is supplemented by blue for highlighting new terms and for enriching diagrams. There are boxes to highlight individual aspects with supplementary information. The diagrams are excellent, and there is plenty of supporting material to aid learning. It also has an associated website with resources including spreadsheets and multiple-choice questions.
The author is an experienced academic with over 20 years teaching experience at Utrecht University.
Mark Robinson
Honorary Fellow, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Wallingford, UK
© 2014, Mark Robinson