Description
Blackwell Publishers A Concise History of World Population (Second Edition) by Massimo Livi-Bacci
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.