Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This book provides a comprehensive and balanced assessment of the state of the Earth and its inhabitants at the close of the twentieth century. More than fifty scholars from all over the world present new, concise and accessible accounts of the present state of humanity and the prospects for its social and natural environment. The subjects range from deforestation, water pollution and ozone layer depletion to poverty, homelessness, mortality and murder. Each contributor considers the present situation, historical trends, likely future prospects, and the efficacy or otherwise of current activity and policy. The coverage is worldwide, with a particular emphasis on North America.

The State of Humanity is a magnificent and eye-opening synthesis of cultural, social, economic and environmental perspectives. It will interest all those - including geographers, economists, sociologists and policy makers - concerned to understand some of the most pressing problems of our time.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• 1 Introduction
• Part I Life, Death and Health
• 2 Human Mortality throughout History and Prehistory
• 3 The Decline of Childhood Mortality
• 4 Disease and Health Throughout the Ages
• 5 The Contribution of Improved Nutrition to the Decline in Mortality Rates in Europe and America
• 6 Trends in Health of the US Population 1957-1989
• 7 Mortality and Health in the Soviet Union
• 8 Worldwide Historical Trends in Murder and Suicide
• 9 The History of Accident Rates in the United States
• 10 World Trends in Smoking
• 11 Long Term Trends in the Consumption of Alcoholic Beverages
• Part II Standard of Living, Productivity and Poverty
• 12 Trends in the Agricultural Labor Force
• 13 The Standard of Living throughout the Ages
• 14 Long Trends in the US Standard of Living
• 15 Long Trends in Productivity
• 16 The Extent of Slavery and Freedom throughout the Ages in the World as a Whole and in Major Sub-Areas
• 17 Black Americans: Income and Standards of Living from the Days of Slavery to the Present
• 18 The Long Term Course of American Inequality, 1647-1969
• 19 Trends in Unemployment in the United States
• 20 Trends in Costs and Quality of Housing
• 21 Trends in the Quantities of Education
• 22 Trends in Free Time
• 23 Trends in Poverty in the United States
• 24 How 'Poor' are America's Poor?
• 25 Homelessness in America
• 26 The Recent US Economy
• Part III Natural Resources
• 27 Long Term Trends in Energy Process
• 28 Trends in the Price and Supply of Oil
• 29 The Costs of Nuclear Power
• 30 Trends in Availability of Non-Fuel Minerals
• 31 Trends in Non-Renewal Resources
• 32 Trends in Availability and Usage of Outdoor Recreation
• 33 Global Forests Revisited
• 34 Species Loss Revisited
• Part IV Agriculture, Food Land and Water
• 35 Agricultural Productivity Before the Green Revolution
• 36 Trends in Food Productivity
• 37 Recent Trends in Food Availability and Nutritional Well Being
• 38 Trends in Grain Stocks
• 39 Trends in Seafood Production
• 40 Trends in Soil Erosion and Farmland Quality
• 41 Water Water Everywhere, But not a Drop to Drink
• 42 Land Use Trends in the United States
• Part V Pollution and the Environment
• 43 Long Run Trends in Environmental Quality
• 44 Atmospheric Pollution Trends in the United Kingdom
• 45 Trends in Air Pollution in the United States
• 46 Comparative Trends in Resource Use and Pollution in Market and Socialist Economies
• 47 Acid Rain
• 48 Stratospheric Ozone: Science and Policy
• 49 The Greenhouse Effect and Global Change
• 50 Greenhouse Scenarios to Inform Decision Makers
• 51 The Hazards of Nuclear Power
• 52 Pesticides, Cancer and Misconceptions
• 53 The Carcinogen or Toxin of the Week Phenomenon: The Facts Behind the Scares
• Part VI Thinking About these Issues
• 54 American Public Opinion: Environment and Energy
• 55 Public Opinion About and Media Coverage of Population Growth
• 56 Risk within Reason
• 57 Natural Ecology Today and in the Future
• Conclusion: From the Past to the Future
• 58 What does the Future Hold?
• Index

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Successor volume to The Resourceful Earth, ed. by J. Simon and H. Kahn (CH, Nov'84), this book is at once a tribute to human resourcefulness and a paean to the competitive enterprise system. It reviews past trends for a broad range of phenomena pertaining to human material well-being, e.g., health, longevity, and mortality; poverty, living standards, and work; natural resources; agriculture, food, land, and water; and pollution and the environment. These chapters support the volume's thesis as stated by Simon: "the material conditions of life will continue to get better for most people, in most countries, most of the time, indefinitely. Within a century or two, all nations and most of humanity will be at or above today's Western living standards." Although projection of many of the trends is consistent with Simon's optimistic forecast, they are presented as definitive when they are, in fact, in dispute. Further, in several cases contributors provide evidence that appears to be contrary to Simon's forecast; this occurs, for example, in chapters dealing with health in the US and the former USSR; suicides; economic inequality, unemployment, and poverty among children in the US; and tropical deforestation. The preceding list supports an implicit qualification: the humanity of the book's title frequently is not global, but is American or developed humanity. These criticisms notwithstanding, the volume is useful as a counter to much "conventional wisdom" and contains a wealth of data that is often hard to come by. All levels. K. Hadden University of Connecticut

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Julian Simon is Professor of Economics at the University of Maryland. He has published widely. His books include The Resourceful Earth (with Herman Kahn), The Economics of Population Growth, The Ultimate Resource, The Management of Advertising, Basic Research Methods in Social Science, and Applied Managerial Economics .