general

National Geographic retains its reputation as one of the finest mapmakers of the world with the seventh edition of their atlas of the world. The maps look the same as the sixth edition, but a fully updated section of urban area maps has been included. Again, color usage is very sparse, but the relief shading has improved. What really makes this atlas more valuable than its predecessor is the thematic part. A large number of topics are elaborately treated. With the 140,000+ index, this atlas remains in the top 5 of best atlases ever produced.

I do not teach geography but I use it everyday. The National Geographic Atlas is not a desk top reference, it is for exploring. It is a waste of time to say one atlas is better than another, much as it is to say one car is better than another. It all depends what you intend to use the atlas for. I have owned a Goodes and several CD-ROM atlas packages for years, these are an excellent desktop reference. The National Geographic is great to spark interest and become immersed in.
I remember as a child going to the library and opening the huge National Geographic Atlas to find something and getting lost. Since then I looked forward to being able to afford the book. The excuse I used to purchase the atlas was my elementary aged son asking for more maps of the world to look at.
The graphics are excellent. The use of satellite images is a high point of the book. The use of false color images (Most satellite photos are presented this way.) is very well integrated with standard cartographic images. In the future this is where many geographics publications will move to.
CD/DVD based atlas texts are good for quick checks, but you can be limited by the size of your monitor. To look at it another way, the National Geographic Atlas of the World is a lot cheaper than a 27 inch LCD or plasma monitor.

Map out your academic studies or armchair travels with this incredible book --- without a doubt, the most up-to-date, comprehensive atlas we have ever seen. This seventh edition puts a changing world, in 140,000-plus entries, in everyone's hands, and boasts state-of-the-art satellite imagery and the work of more than 50 cartographers, designers, editors, researchers and indexers. (The mountain, valleys and other landscape features were digitally painted over a period of a yea by one staff artist!) Expensive? You bet. But much cheaper than a trip around the world. But if you have to go, just don't try and pack it in your luggage; the book weighs close to 15 pounds!