Joel E. Cohen is head of the Laboratory of Populations at the Rockefeller University. He lives in New York City.
Review
"The definitive work on the global population problem. Cohen, one of the foremost theoretical biologists
in the world, has brought extraordinary analytic powers and humanitarian learning to the topic, and those who care
about the human future will do well to read his conclusions."
--Edward O. Wilson, Harvard University
"It would be hard to conceive of a better book for those interested in a scholarly and nonideological review
and analysis of population issues. . . . Fascinating and lucid. . . . A gem of a book."
--William D. Nordhaus, Yale University, in the New York Times Book Review
"A probing, scholarly analysis of the population issue in all its complexity. . . . An enduring resource book."
--Thomas E. Lovejoy, Smithsonian Institution
"A gem of a book."
--New York Times Book Review
W.W. Norton & Company Publishers Web Site, April, 2001
Summary
With the world population now at 5.7 billion, and increasing by about 90 million per year, we have clearly entered
a zone where we can see, and may well encounter, limits on the human carrying capacity of the Earth. In this penetrating
analysis of one of the most crucial questions of our time, a leading scholar in the field reviews the history of
world population growth and appraises what can be known about its future.