The Growth of Humanity Barry Bogin The growth of human populations and human physical growth are intimately related, and their combined study links several fields including anthropology, demography, economics, and history. The Growth of Humanity provides an introduction to key concepts, methods of research, and essential discoveries in the fields of human demography and human growth and development, particularly in relation to disease, nutrition, and aging. This book explains the evolution and significance of human life history, especially human childhood and adolescence, and shows how new stages of human development lead inextricably to the growth of the entire human population. Providing a comprehensive and exciting biocultural perspective into the uses of demography in the real world, this first volume in the new Wiley series, Foundations of Human Biology, explains how and why the way people grow leads to greater human reproductive success than that of any other mammal. Written in an appealing, accessible style, The Growth of Humanity reviews such topics as:

• How populations grow: history, methods, and principles of demography
• Basic principles of human growth and development
• Evolution of human life history
• Food, demography, and growth
• Migration and human health
• Anthropometric history
• The aging of humanity
• And much more

The Growth of Humanity is appropriate as an introduction for graduate students and advanced undergraduates studying human growth/development and demography while also proving to be a fascinating read for demographers, anthropologists, and human biologists.

In the classic Irish folktale, the hero returns after centuries in Fairy to find humans puny and weak compared to his long-dead peers. But using historical and archaeological evidence unavailable to the bards, Bogin (behavioral science, U. of Michigan-Dearborn) shows that both the human population and the human body are getting larger, and argues that the two phenomena are intimately linked. In a textbook for graduate and advanced undergraduate students, he introduces key concepts, methods of research, and essential discoveries in human demography and human growth and development, especially in relation to disease, nutrition, and aging.
Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

"...using historical and archaeological evidence unavailable to the bards, Bogin...shows that both the human population and the human body are getting larger, and argues that the two phenomena are intimately linked..." (Reference &Research Book News, Vol. 16, No. 3, August 2001)

"...this book would be a wonderful text...it could be used for a wide array of courses...reflects the breadth of human biological research and...provides an important and exciting step in building a much-needed theoretical framework..." (American Journal of Human Biology, Vol. 1, January/February 2002)

"...excellent, skillfully written volume...It will serve as a valuable textbook for many courses...In fact, anyone with intellectual curiosity about the biological and social history of human populations will find a wealth of authoritative information...a novel approach to many subjects familiar to demographers, evolutionists, developmental biologists, and other life scientists. They should read it." (The Quarterly Review of Biology, June 2002)

this book should be an integral part of reading lists of all population-related courses (Population and Development Review, Vol. 28, No. 3, June 2002)

Includes bibliographical references (p. 289-312) and index.

Acknowledgments.

Series Introduction.

Of Populations and People.

How Populations Grow: History, Methods, and Principles of Demography.

How People Grow.

Evolution of the Human Life History.

Food, Demography, and Growth.

Migration and Human Health.

Growth of Humanity.

The Aging of Humanity.

Glossary.

References.

Index.