World Dynamics

Publisher: Pegasus Communications
Number Of Pages: 160
Publication Date: 1971
Sales Rank: 2015340
ISBN / ASIN: 1883823382
EAN: 9781883823382
Binding: Hardcover
Manufacturer: Pegasus Communications
Studio: Pegasus Communications
Average Rating: 4

Review:

at least birth rates have fallen since the book was published

The book has code fragments and simulations that attempt to show the dangers of continued, unrestrained resource usage and population growth. It was written at a time of unease about the "limits to growth", as famously popularised by the Club of Rome.

A current reader will be struck by how quaint and primitive the simulations are. Please keep in mind that the author was constrained by the computers available in the early 70s. He did the best he could, using the hardware and knowledge available at that time.

In the subsequent decades of the 80s and 90s, the book's themes might well have been safely ignored. Yet now, the issues it covers could have new relevance. As China and India industrialise, and compete for resources with the developed nations, might there indeed be overcrowding effects? Not necessarily in actual population, for birth rates have thankfully plummetted worldwide since the book's publication.