Graphicacy, a new word coined by the authors, is the intellectual skill necessary for the communication of relationships which cannot be successfully communicated by words or mathematical notation alone; it is a skill to be possessed by both those wishing to communicate and those attempting to understand; visual aids, especially maps, photographs, charts and graphs, are the media of communication. There is general agreement among educators that reading and writing (literacy) and the ability to communicate in mathematical notation (numeracy) are essential to education. The authors of this paper, however, question whether or not reading, writing and arithmetic form the total underpinnings of the academic aspect of education and argue that graphicacy should be considered as the same kind of phenomenon. Graphicacy is not seen to substitute for literacy or numeracy but rather to complement and strengthen these skills. It is further argued that, if the full complexity and sophistication of graphicacy is not to be missed, basic elements should be taught early in the child's educational life. Although visual aids have been in use for some time, their development and use has been piecemeal. A challenge is issued to educators, and in particular to geographers, to mould the vague ideas of visual aids at large into a more integrated goal of education, to begin teaching graphicacy at an early stage and to give graphicacy its rightful place in education.

The following paper details the organisation and outlines the observations made during the micro‐climatological survey of Bath and district which was undertaken between October 1944 and January 1946 with the aid of a grant from the Leverhulme Research Fellowships and the assistance of numerous voluntary observers. By outlining the methods employed and some of the difficulties encountered it is hoped to assist future research workers in this field and at the same time to provide the necessary background account for subsequent specialist papers dealing with the Bath area. A summary of some of the more interesting facts which have emerged from the investigation is also given.

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