The population of the modern world continues to grow at a rate unprecedented in human history. How are we to explain this massive increase in the number of living people? What is its consequence, now and for the future? How have populations changed in size and structure since the advent of industrial technology? Can we predict the population trends in developing countries? These and many other significant questions are dealt with in a persuasive yet accessible manner in Ronald Freedman''s pivotal "Population Growth".Modern population trends are unique in historical perspective; describing them as part of a "vital revolution" is not an exaggeration. The more popular term "population explosion" is less accurate because it refers to only one aspect of the current situation - the unprecedented growth rates. In the last two centuries other important trends have developed, also without precedent in all of the previous millennia of human history. While the size of population growth is very important in itself, the essays in this volume demonstrate that many other aspects of structure and change in populations are equally important.In readable, non-technical language, these collected essays analyze the most important modern trends in world population. The essays include comprehensive discussions of population theory, analyses of population trends, and prospects in the United States and surveys of population trends in other major areas of the world. As a survey of current population problems, this book will be a library staple for those involved in international development programs, sociologists, family planning workers, and everyone concerned with the contemporary vital revolution in population.