For decades, the University of Michigan's faculty members have grappled with the theoretical and practical issues that human population growth poses to the global environment. This study is a foundational text that exposes this dialogue, raises questions, and defines promising directions. Topics covered in this volume include population-environment dynamics in historical perspective; constraints on sustainable growth in agricultural production as concept and parameter in the modeling of deforestation; powers and limits of the state and technology; resource control, fertility, and migration; and an ecosystem approach to the study of coastal areas.

At the time of writing this book, Gayl D. Ness was professor of sociology and population planning and international health at the University of Michigan, William D. Drake was professor of resource planning and conservation at the University of Michigan, and Stephen R. Brechin was professor of sociology at Princeton University.