Synopses & Reviews
Human population growth has been a topic of speculation and spirited debate since the English economist Thomas Malthus predicted that population will increase faster than the food supply, with catastrophic results. Today, even as fertility rates decline on a global scale, relentless increases in population and other population-driven factors threaten not only the food supply, but also the stability of entire regions of the world. No single individual has contributed more to our understanding of scientific matters related to human population than Sheldon Segal has. Pioneer in contraceptive research and developer of Norplant, Segal has orchestrated many of the international clinical trials of new contraceptives in the last quarter century. In this one volume Segal examines how population factors impact critical scientific elements of human affairs: contraception, family planning, environmental degradation, climate change, food and fresh water supply, and the threat of newly emerging diseases. As we follow Segal from meetings with heads of state and foreign ministers through to his impassioned, grassroots efforts to secure suitable funds for impoverished countries, we gain a behind-the-scenes perspective on how individuals and nations juggle humanitarian and scientific concerns with political agendas. Informed at every turn by Segal's keen intelligence and humane values,Under The Banyan Tree skillfully blends engaging narrative with history and analysis, providing a dramatic and all-encompassing portrait of this most basic of human concerns.
Review
"A lucid, forceful, and engaging book, drawing on the author's lifelong experience with both science and policy-making in the population field, and sure to stimulate much needed and more informed debate on urgent policy issues."--Sissela Bok, Author and Senior Visiting Fellow, Havard Center for Population and Development Studies
"As a world leader in the field of population and reproductive biology, and recipient of the United Nations Population Award, Sheldon Segal has a unique reputation as a scientist who understands the policy implications of research. This is a scientist's book, based on evidence rather than speculation. It will be an invaluable guide to policymakers on the intricacies of the population future, and the issues that will demand attention in the years ahead."--Nafis Sadik, former Executive Dierector of UN Population Fund and Special Advisor to Secretary General Kofi Annan
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references (p. 211-232) and index.
About the Author
Sheldon J. Segal is distinguished scientist at the Population Council and chairman of the Council's Institutional Review Board. He is the former director for Population Sciences at the Rockefeller Foundation and continues his association with the Foundation as the Ella Walker Distinguished Scholar, Bellagio Study Center. Segal is also an adjunct professor of clinical pharmacology at Cornell Medical School.
Table of Contents
Introduction and Personal Note