A Concise History of World Population
2nd Edition
Published on 9. June 1997
Book
Hardback
256 pages
978-0-631-20454-1 (ISBN)
Description
This study describes and explains the history of human population. It examines the changing patterns of its growth, and the effects upon it of migrations, wars, disease, technology and culture. First published in 1992, the book is an account of the contemporary recasting of theory, and features a reasoned treatment of issues crucial to the future of every species. This revised edition takes account of recent trends and research. The author provides a new account of the causes and consequences of European migration and colonization, and of the interactive influence of nature, place and space on settlement and population dynamics. He has revised his discussion of the relationship between development, affluence and population change. The final chapters of the book have been entirely recast to give an extensive analysis of the carrying capacity of the planet in relation to a possible doubling of population during the next 50 years. The book examines the effects of changes in relative affluence and population growth on food production, resources and the natural environment.
We are entering a new historical phase, Massimo Livi-Bacci suggests, in which population growth will cease to produce economies of scale and may start to produce overwhelming diseconomies - the result of which could be environmental collapse and human catastrophy. The underlying purpose of this book is to understand the links between nature, culture and population, and to seek thereby the means of avoiding such an outcome.
We are entering a new historical phase, Massimo Livi-Bacci suggests, in which population growth will cease to produce economies of scale and may start to produce overwhelming diseconomies - the result of which could be environmental collapse and human catastrophy. The underlying purpose of this book is to understand the links between nature, culture and population, and to seek thereby the means of avoiding such an outcome.
More details
Edition
2nd Revised edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Publishing group
John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
Revised edition
Illustrations
70 figures, tables, further reading, index
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Weight
551 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-631-20454-1 (9780631204541)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
New editions
Professor Massimo Livi-Bacci
A Concise History of World Population
Book
05/2001
3rd Edition
Blackwell Publishers
€44.75
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Persons
Content
Part 1 The space and strategy of demographic growth: humans and animals; divide and multiply; Jacopo Bichi and Domenica Del Buono, Jean Guyon and Mathurine Robin; reproduction and survival; the space of growth; environmental constraints; a few figures. Part 2 Demographic growth: between choice and constraint - constraint, choice, adaptation; from hunters to farmers - the Neolithic demographic transition; Black Death and demographic decline in Europe; the tragedy of the American Indios - old microbes and new populations; the French Canadians, a demographic success story; Ireland and Japan - two islands, two histories; on the threshold of the contemporary world. Part 3 Land, labour and population: diminishing returns and demographic growth; historical confirmations; demographic pressure and economic development; more on demographic pressure and development - examples from the Stone Age to the present day; population size and prosperity; space, land and development; increasing or decreasing returns? Part 4 Toward order and efficienc - the recent demography of Europe and the Developed World: from waste to economy; from disorder to order - the lengthening of life; from high to low fertility; European emigration - a unique phenomenon; a summing up - the results of the transition; theoretical considerations on the relationship between demographic and economic growth; more on the relationship between demographic and economic growth - empirical observations. Part 5 The populations of poor countries: an extraordinary phase; the conditions of survival; a brief geography of fertility; demographic policy and the conditions and prospects for fertility decline; India and China; fertilia and sterilia; explaining a paradox. Part 6 The future: population and self-regulation; the numbers of the future; the moving limits; the emerging limits; calculations and values.