Population and its problems: a plain man's guide

The lecture series. was designed to provide the interested non specialist person with a general, critical introduction to the main factors which determine the size of populations, beginning with animal populations and pre-industrial human societies, and also as an introduction to a detailed survey of the many complex factors which influence and ultimately determine the present-day size of human populations. No attempt was made to cover all aspects of the subject; rather, the lectures were directed to certain fields considered to be central to any proper appraisal of present-day population problems. The lectures provide scholarly introductions to these fields, and, with their key references to the principal relevant literature, allow the interested reader to pursue further any chosen topic. The lectures form Part I of the book.
Part II comprises papers presented at a Workshop Weekend on 16-18 March 1973, which commenced with the last lecture. It was designed to provide a forum for a fuller discussion of certain problems posed by the probable population size of the United Kingdom in the year A.D. 2001.