Abstract
OVER the past twenty thousand years, the logarithm of human population of small areas such as England and Wales—when plotted against time—shows two or more special upsurges, or kinks ; for example, due to the introduction of agriculture, or since A.D. 1500. One may recognize three main demographic stages1. With the same idea, Prof. E. S. Deevey of Yale proposes a striking plot of total world population, featuring two such kinks in a very pronounced manner2. But the “overall geographical speed of cultural diffusion”, in early times, was slow ; often between 0.5 and 5 km. per annum3. Consequently different small areas had their main kinks at widely different times ; and they will practically disappear on summation. Hence, with due allowance for the different scales used, the relatively smooth curve for world population4 seems likely to bo much nearer the truth than Deevey's of the following September.
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References
Pettersson, M., Nature, 184, 481 (1959).
Deevey, E. S., Sci. Amer., 203 (3), 194 (1960).
Pettersson, M., Biol. and Hum. Affairs, 25, 24 (1960); Anim. Behav. (in the press).
Pettersson, M., Nature, 186, 870 (1960).
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PETTERSSON, M. Conflicting Hypotheses on the Growth of World Population. Nature 189, 1032 (1961). https://doi.org/10.1038/1891032a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1891032a0
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