How Many People Can The Earth Support

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.

"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

A probing, scholarly analysis of the population issue in all its complexity. . . . An enduring resource book. --Thomas E. Lovejoy, Smithsonian Institution

A compelling new analysis of world population issues and what the numbers tell us. . . .

Joel E. Cohen is head of the Laboratory of Populations at the Rockefeller University. He lives in New York City.