In order to be able to research the desert topic, Issar had to combine geology sciences, hydrology, history sciences, archeology, and Judaism sciences.

The book is designated for those how are interested in geology and are eager to understand the meaning of landscapes and views, especially in desert areas where rock formations are well exposed, such as the Negev. The Negev lays at the south of Israel and is part of the sub tropical deserts strip. The Northern Negev is characterized by a series of elongated mountain chains, trending north-east. This mountain chains are asymmetric anticlines and are part of the Syrian Arc- a long geological structure that extends from the western Sinai Peninsula at the south, to the Syrian Palmira Mountains at the north. Five east- west long shear zones cross the central part of the Negev. A series of typical strike-slip related structures evolved along those dextral faults, such as domes, half domes, and pull- aparts . The Dead Sea Transform Fault bounds the Negev at the east; The international border with Egypt is the western border; The Gulf of Eilat (Aqaba golf) delineates the Negev at the south, and the Be'er Sheva Vvalley lays at its northern border. The Igneous rocks of the Precambrian Arabo - Nubian shield build the basement of the stratigraphic column. The Arabo -Nubian shield is composed of three rock complexes: The complex of the archaic metamorphic rocks, the magmatic complex, and the volcanic conglomeratic complex. A relatively thin, up to 1,200 m sedimentary rock sequence covers the basement at the south of the Negev, near Eilat. The sedimentary formations consistently become thicker and reach up to 5,000 m in the northern part of the Negev- about 200 km from Eilat. Among the unique geological phenomena of the Negev, one can count the Dead Sea Rift Valley, the three huge erosion- circuses ("Machteshim"), and the transversal creeks, which cross the anticlines from one side to the other. The book describes systematically each of the rock formations, their composition, and the environmental conditions at the time, as well as explains the natural processes that led to the formation of the landscape that we see today.

The story of the Golan and its position between Israel and Syria is not only a legacy of the past. It has been interwoven in the political experience of the two states up to now. The story exposes a significant gap between memory and history. This gap is natural, understandable, and characteristic of issues dealing with current history and especially of those whose subjects and the resulting findings touch upon present questions. Such a gap usually leads to a preliminary reaction of difficulty in accepting research findings. Personal or public memory confronting these findings has already been structured and there is a natural fear of updating it. Additionally, in some cases, research conflicts with existing myths, and myths, which have their own validity, cannot easily be changed. While the story of history is formulated and updated and is ultimately dependant upon research which has been conducted using methods and accepted rules for historical research, memory is personal and private, choosy, subject to illusion and dependent on its agents. Thus, the gap between the two is personal. Regarding the Golan, the reader may evaluate its extent. The gap between memory and history is important as it directly influences the political process in Israel where public opinion sways the decisions of leaders. Therefore to reach a peace agreement, it is a precondition that the Israeli public appreciate this gap. Only in this way will public opinion be able to accompany the process and evaluate it in a serious manner, with careful consideration based on the facts, as detached as possible from the emotions it evokes.

The Gulf of Aqaba-Eilat is a unique pocket-sized tropical coral ocean, functioning in a subtropical environment. This book, the first one to treat the Gulf in an interdisciplinary collection of contributed chapters, celebrates also the 40 years of existence of the Heinz Steinitz Marine Biology Laboratory in Eilat. The authors of the 28 chapters are mainly Israeli scientists , but many are also from abroad, chiefly from Germany. The results presented, relate to Israeli, Jordanian and Egyptian waters. In presenting the Gulf, virtually unknown some 50 years ago and today a major diving tourist hub , the issues of coral reef preservation and restoration are predominant in this richly illustrated book. How many marine biological laboratories are there in the world where you have clear water, coral reefs, seagrass beds, and deep reefs off your door step? This multiple-author volume edited by Dov Por deals optimistically with the elimination of the sources of pollution and the challenge of restoration of the marine habitats of the Gulf, especially the coral reefs. (John E. Randall, Bernice Bishop Museum Hawaii)

This book deals with the arrival of modernity in the Holy Land in the form of the 86 km Jaffa-Jerusalem Railway. Befitting the completion of such a substantial undertaking, the inauguration, in September 1892, was a grand affair, attended by representatives of the Ottoman Empire, consuls, religious leaders, and foreign delegations. The tracks approached Jerusalem from the southwest through the Judean Mountains, taking advantage of the deep, winding river bed of the Soreq Valley. This afforded the least steep route, though even then the grades were a challenge for the locomotives. Since the tracks were of narrow meter-gauge they could easily follow the natural contours of the land on the ascent to Jerusalem, the highest point, at about 700 meters above sea level. . The railroad was the largest civil engineering project ever undertaken in the modern Holy Land. It was built to exploit the tremendous growth of pilgrim traffic and tourism during the second half of the nineteenth century. Though several proposals had been put forward since the 1850s, it was only in the 1880s that two young Jewish entrepreneurs, Joseph Navon of Jerusalem and Joseph Amzalak of Jaffa, backed by the Protestant banker Johannes Frutiger, were enabled to take the first steps leading to the acquisition of a license from the Ottoman government for laying down the iron rails. Unable to raise sufficient capital in Europe, Navon sold the license to a group of Catholic businessmen in Paris, who established the Société du Chemin de Fer Ottoman de Jaffa à Jérusalem et Prolongements. When the first locomotive was tested on a short length of track at Jaffa half the population turned up to witness the event, such was the novelty of the sight and sounds of the horse of fire and iron. Despite difficulties due to the low cost of construction and poor traffic during the early years, the railroad opened up Jerusalem to modern tourism, brought greater numbers of pilgrims, and contributed to the growth of the city. It also delivered fresh water in times of drought. This is the most thoroughly researched publication ever to appear on the first railroad in the Holy Land. Moreover, it relies extensively on the one resource that best captures the spirit of the Jaffa-Jerusalem Railway: magnificent photographs, mainly taken between 1891 and 1914. These early photographs, gathered from archives in Israel, the United States, England and Germany, are supplemented with those taken by British forces from December 1917 on, from Israel, Australia and England, and a number of color images dating from the mid-1980s. Details of locomotives and rolling stock, maps, tables of statistics, track plans, extensive notes, a bibliography, and index are included. The intended audiences, apart from general readers and railway enthusiasts, are historical geographers, historians of the Holy Land in modern times, and transport and tourism historians.

Contents: Zvi Ben Avraham and Michael Lazar- The structure and development of the Dead Sea basin Gideon Baer- A view from space on movements in the earth’s crust at the dead sea basin Shmuel Marco- Lake sediments of the Dead Sea basin as paleoseismometers Abraham Kaplan- Bromine of the Dead sea – production and applications Aharon Oren- Life in the Dead Sea – past, present and future Gideon Hadas- ‘Ein Gedi, where they grow the best dates and the opobalsamum (balsam)’