Back القنبلة السكانية Arabic The Population Bomb Esperanto La bomba P Spanish بمب جمعیت Persian La Bombe P French 인구 폭탄 Korean ദ പോപ്പുലേഷൻ ബോംബ് Malayalam De bevolkingsexplosie Dutch
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| Authors | Paul R. Ehrlich, Anne Howland Ehrlich |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Population |
| Publisher | Sierra Club/Ballantine Books |
Publication date | 1968 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Pages | 201 |
| ISBN | 1-56849-587-0 |
The Population Bomb is a 1968 book co-authored by former Stanford University professor Paul R. Ehrlich and former Stanford senior researcher in conservation biology Anne H. Ehrlich.[1][2] From the opening page, it predicted worldwide famines due to overpopulation, as well as other major societal upheavals, and advocated immediate action to limit population growth. Fears of a "population explosion" existed in the mid-20th century baby boom years, but the book and its authors brought the idea to an even wider audience.[3][4][5]
The book has been criticized since its publication for an alarmist tone, and over the subsequent decades, for inaccurate assertions and failed predictions. For instance, regional famines have occurred since the publication of the book, but not world famines. The Ehrlichs themselves still stand by the book despite the flaws identified by its critics, with Paul stating in 2009 that "perhaps the most serious flaw in The Bomb was that it was much too optimistic about the future," despite having predicted catastrophic global famines that never came to pass. They believe that it achieved their goals because "it alerted people to the importance of environmental issues and brought human numbers into the debate on the human future."[1]
- ^ a b Ehrlich, Paul R.; Howland Ehrlich, Anne (2009). "The Population Bomb Revisited" (PDF). The Electronic Journal of Sustainable Development. (2009) 1(3).
- ^ "Paul R. Ehrlich - Center for Conservation Biology". Stanford University. Archived from the original on 8 March 2013.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
intellectual rootswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ The phrase "population bomb", was already in use. For example, see this article. Quality Analysis and Quality Control, Canadian Medical Association Journal, June 9, 1962, vol. 86, p. 1074
- ^ Ehrlich, Paul. "The population bomb" (PDF). project avalon.net.