Essai sur l'évolution du nombre des hommes
Year: 1979
Type: article
Abstract: Biraben Jean-Noël. ? An Essay on the Evolution of Numbers of Mankind. Most authors who have written on the subject of world population have assumed that its growth was more or less regular and exponential, in order to overcome the difficulties caused by periods for which information was not available. However, in the regions about which most is known (Europe, China) and which contain between 35 and 40 per cent of the world's population, there have been considerable fluctuations in growth rates during the past which are at variance with this hypothesis. This essay deals with the evolution of world population since the year 400 B.C. It suggests that there have been large general movements which have affected overall numbers. Further back in time, there have been sudden increased at the time of major cultural changes (e.g. the beginning of the Upper Palaeolithic Period around 36 000 B.C., the neolithic period around 5 000 B.C., and, lastly, the industrial changes in the 19th and 20th centuries), and these have been interspersed with slower growth marked by smaller variations.
Source: Population
DOI: 10.2307/1531855
Authors: Jean-Noël Biraben, Jean-Noel Biraben
Language: French
Subfield: Demography
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1854851338