Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures and tables
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1 Scientific ground rules
- 2 The new views in anthropology, archaeology and economics
- 3 Theoretical background to the vicious circle principle
- 4 The vicious circle principle of the development of humankind
- 5 The development of humankind
- 6 The vicious circle today
- 7 … and too dumb to change
- Conclusion
- Glossary
- Notes
- References
- Index
Preface
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 January 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures and tables
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1 Scientific ground rules
- 2 The new views in anthropology, archaeology and economics
- 3 Theoretical background to the vicious circle principle
- 4 The vicious circle principle of the development of humankind
- 5 The development of humankind
- 6 The vicious circle today
- 7 … and too dumb to change
- Conclusion
- Glossary
- Notes
- References
- Index
Summary
This book is the development of an idea I got back in 1992, after I had been thinking about the nature of humans' ecological problems for some three years or so. I have called the idea the vicious circle principle, and my task in this book is to present and apply it as well as I can.
Richard Wilkinson's Poverty and Progress (1973) has been my main source of intellectual inspiration, though I have also benefited hugely from the works of Malthus and Darwin.
For comments on various drafts of this book, I would like to thank Dennis Meadows, Richard Douthwaite, David Pimentel, Richard Wilkinson, Herman Daly, Timothy Earle, Anthony McMichael and Allen Johnson.
Special thanks are due Matt Lloyd, Editorial Director of Earth and Life Sciences at Cambridge University Press, who has been enthusiastic and supportive of the book from when he first came in contact with it. Anna-Marie Lovett, Production Editor at the Press, has also been extremely kind and helpful. I also express my gratitude to both Sarah Price, the book's Project Manager, and Laila Grieg-Gran, the Copy-Editor, for their competence and professionalism in preparing the book for publication.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Too Smart for our Own GoodThe Ecological Predicament of Humankind, pp. xv - xviPublisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009