Earth: Our Crowded Spaceship [Hardcover]

Isaac Asimov (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: John Day Co (February 1975)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0381996255
• ISBN-13: 978-0381996253
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,345,472 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Arguments that are still valid thirty years later, December 7, 2004

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Earth: Our Crowded Spaceship (Hardcover)

Although this book was written in 1974, when Asimov was unaware of the technological advancements that have dramatically improved the efficiency of resource use, the basic premises he works from remain. Humanity is still using non-renewable resources at a growing rate and at some point they will run out. The threat of global warming is a serious one and no one really knows what the consequences will be.
Asimov targeted the material at the level of the late middle and high school student. It is a description of the main technical advancements such as agriculture, medical advancements, and improvements in hygiene that have dramatically increased the average life span of humans. He then performs some simple calculations that demonstrate that the time will soon be reached when the human population will reach the capacity of the Earth to sustain it. When this happens, the human population will almost certainly drop at a dramatic rate.
His solution is to be proactive and take actions now to reduce the growth in the number of humans. The proposals are mild, yet controversial to some people. They are the expanded use of family planning around the world and the continued development of new technology to improve housing, health and quality of life.
As always, Asimov argues with a thoroughness that leaves little room for doubt or argument. Until humanity finally learns how to control the growth of the population, this will remain one of the best explanations of the reasons why it needs to be done.