ACTA CARSOLOGICA 35/2 – 2006 174
REPORTS - POROč ILA
ESSENTIAL SOURCES IN CAVE SCIENCE
Graham S. Proudlove, e ditor e ssential Sources In 
Cave Science. A Guide to the Literature of Cave Sci-
ence
Cave Studies Series 16, 56 pp, A4, BCRA 2006
ISBN: 0-900-265-31-0
In the time when all information are at the tip of our 
fingers, an issue like this seems to be unnecessary.  On the 
other hand, even an experienced scientist will find prob-
lems looking for the relevant sources out of the Google 
hits. Not to mention a caver, interested to a science re-
lated to his/her free time activity. An issue, where people 
from  the forefront of a scientific area guide the reader 
through the essential literature is most welcome. And 
this is exactly what this booklet does. The  science related 
to caves is broken down into 13 areas covered by one or 
more authors as follows: Geology by Dave Lowe, Geo-
morphology by Tony w altham, Hydrology and Hydro-
geology by Chris Groves, Chemistry by Simon Bottrell, 
Physics by David Gibson, Clark Friend, Phil Murphy & 
Tony w altham, Speleogenesis by Dave Lowe, minerals 
and Speleothems by Charlie Self, Paleoenvironments 
by Andy Baker, biology by Graham Proudlove, bats by 
John Altringham, Archeology and Paleontology by An-
drew Chamberlain, Conservation and management by 
Graham Price, Speleology by Ric Hallivel.
Each area is introduced with a brief - half to one 
page -  description of what it does, its  history and the 
present state-of-the art. A list of selected printed refer-
ences follows, which normally include several tens of 
entries. These are up-to-date, sources include journal 
articles, monographs, book chapters from edited books, 
conference proceedings etc. A few lines of description is 
added to each entry  and a tag G or B is given, denot-
ing whether the source is of general interest or related 
to Great Britain and Ireland. Three sources from the list 
are outlined to be most essential „for those seeking the 
quickest possible introduction“.
The list of  printed sources is (not always) followed 
by the list of web based resources, which has - for obvious 
reasons -  no ambitions to be complete.
Last but not least is he list of periodicals publishing 
cave science.
From my own experience I know that many read-
ers will miss some entries, particularly in the area where 
one is actively involved. Probably this is exactly the area 
which you shouldn’t look for.
Franci Gabrovšek