Population Problems

Although this book has been almost entirely rewritten for this edition, there has been no change in its basic purpose. It aims to present the most important facts relating to population in a form that is readily understandable by both the nonspecialized college student, to whom it is primarily addressed, and the lay reader interested in learning the significance of population growth and changes as factors influencing many aspects of our daily life in today's world. However, some change has been made in the amount of space devoted to the various aspects of population changes. Composition of the population has received considerably more attention. There is also a somewhat expanded discussion of population policies, which are rapidly becoming of concern to all people.
The greatly increased amount of information regarding population presented in our popular media of communication since World War II has made it less necessary to include materials intended to convince most people who try to keep up with the news that it is important to know something about population growth and changes as well as the relationships of these changes to the cultural, social, political, and economic happenings of our day. Certain information intended primarily to arouse interest in the study of population problems has therefore been curtailed or omitted.