A Concise History of World Population

List of Figures viii List of Tables xi Preface xiii 1 The Space and Strategy of Demographic Growth 1 1 Humans and Animals 1 2 Divide and Multiply 5 3 Jacopo Bichi and Domenica Del Buono, Jean Guyon and Mathurine Robin 7 4 Reproduction and Survival 9 5 The Space of Growth 17 6 Environmental Constraints 19 7 A Few Figures 24 Notes 27 Further Reading 31 2 Demographic Growth: Between Choice and Constraint 32 1 Constraint, Choice, Adaptation 32 2 From Hunters to Farmers: The Neolithic Demographic Transition 34 3 Black Death and Demographic Decline in Europe 41 4 The Tragedy of the American Indios: Old Microbes and New Populations 46 5 Africa, America, and the Slave Trade 53 6 The French Canadians: A Demographic Success Story 57 7 Ireland and Japan: Two Islands, Two Histories 61 8 On the Threshold of the Contemporary World: China and Europe 66 Notes 73 Further Reading 80 3 Land, Labor, and Population 82 1 Diminishing Returns and Demographic Growth 82 2 Historical Confirmations 86 3 Demographic Pressure and Economic Development 91 4 More on Demographic Pressure and Development: Examples from the Stone Age to the Present Day 95 5 Space, Land, and Development 98 6 Population Size and Prosperity 105 7 Increasing or Decreasing Returns? 108 Notes 109 Further Reading 112 4 Toward Order and Efficiency: The Recent Demography of Europe and the Developed World 114 1 From Waste to Economy 114 2 From Disorder to Order: The Lengthening of Life 119 3 From High to Low Fertility 125 4 European Emigration: A Unique Phenomenon 132 5 A Summing Up: The Results of the Transition 138 6 Theoretical Considerations on the Relationship between Demographic and Economic Growth 140 7 More on the Relationship between Demographic and Economic Growth: Empirical Observations 146 Notes 153 Further Reading 158 5 The Populations of Poor Countries 160 1 An Extraordinary Phase 160 2 The Conditions of Survival 165 3 A Brief Geography of Fertility 172 4 The Conditions and Prospects for Fertility Decline and Demographic Policy 177 5 India and China 185 6 Fertilia and Sterilia 194 7 Explaining a Paradox 198 Notes 205 Further Reading 212 6 The Future 214 1 Population and Self-Regulation 214 2 The Numbers of the Future 216 3 The North-South Divide and International Migration 223 4 On Sustainability of Extended Survival 230 5 The Moving Limits 238 6 The Emerging Limits 243 7 The Emerging Limits: Non-Renewable Resources and Food 246 8 The Emerging Limits: Space and Environment 250 9 Calculations and Values 254 Notes 258 Further Reading 262 Major Scientific Journals for Further Reading 264 Index 265