<i>The Population Bomb</i>

The Population Bomb

<p><i><b>The Population Bomb</b></i> is a 1968 book co-authored by (currently) <a href="/en/Stanford_University" title="Stanford University" class="wl">Stanford University</a> Professor emeritus <a href="/en/Paul_R._Ehrlich" title="Paul R. Ehrlich" class="wl">Paul R. Ehrlich</a> and (currently) Stanford senior researcher emeritus in <a href="/en/Conservation_biology" title="Conservation biology" class="wl">conservation biology</a> <a href="/en/Anne_H._Ehrlich" title="Anne H. Ehrlich" class="wl">Anne Howland Ehrlich</a>.<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-:1_1-0"><a href="#cite_note-:1-1" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 1;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[1]</span></a></span><span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-2"><a href="#cite_note-2" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 2;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[2]</span></a></span> It predicted worldwide <a href="/en/Famine" title="Famine" class="wl">famine</a> due to <a href="/en/Human_overpopulation" title="Human overpopulation" class="wl">overpopulation</a>, as well as other major societal upheavals, and advocated immediate action to limit population growth. Fears of a "population explosion" existed in the <a href="/en/Mid-20th_century_baby_boom" title="Mid-20th century baby boom" class="wl">mid-20th century baby boom</a> years, but the book and its authors brought the idea to an even wider audience.<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-intellectual_roots_3-0"><a href="#cite_note-intellectual_roots-3" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 3;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[3]</span></a></span><span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-4"><a href="#cite_note-4" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 4;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[4]</span></a></span><span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-:0_5-0"><a href="#cite_note-:0-5" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 5;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[5]</span></a></span></p> 

<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt1">1968 book predicting worldwide famine</div>
<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1066479718" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles mw:Transclusion">.mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-header,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-subheader,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-above,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-title,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-image,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-below{text-align:center}</style><div class='mobile-collapse'><header class="mobile-collapse-header mobile-collapse-btn"><b>Quick facts: Authors, Country, Language, Subject, Publishe...</b> <span class='arrow'>▼</span></header> <table class="infobox vcard mobile-collapse-element"><caption class="infobox-title" style="font-size:125%; font-style:italic; padding-bottom:0.2em;">The Population Bomb </caption><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image"><span class="mw-default-size"><a href="/en/File:The_Population_Bomb.jpg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:The_Population_Bomb.jpg"><img loading="lazy" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/da/The_Population_Bomb.jpg" decoding="async" data-file-width="200" data-file-height="338" data-file-type="bitmap" height="338" width="200" alt="The_Population_Bomb.jpg"></a></span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Authors</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/Paul_R._Ehrlich" title="Paul R. Ehrlich" class="wl">Paul R. Ehrlich</a>, <a href="/en/Anne_H._Ehrlich" title="Anne H. Ehrlich" class="wl">Anne Howland Ehrlich</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Country</th><td class="infobox-data">United States</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Language</th><td class="infobox-data">English</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Subject</th><td class="infobox-data">Population</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Publisher</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/Sierra_Club_Books" title="Sierra Club Books" class="wl">Sierra Club</a>/<a href="/en/Ballantine_Books" title="Ballantine Books" class="wl">Ballantine Books</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;">Publication date</div></th><td class="infobox-data">1968</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Pages</th><td class="infobox-data">201</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="/en/ISBN_(identifier)" title="ISBN (identifier)" class="mw-redirect wl">ISBN</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1133582631" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:#d33}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:#d33}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#3a3;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}</style><a href="/en/Special:BookSources/1-56849-587-0" title="Special:BookSources/1-56849-587-0" class="wl">1-56849-587-0</a></td></tr></tbody></table> <footer class='mobile-collapse-footer mobile-collapse-btn'><b>Close</b> <span class='arrow'>▲</span></footer></div>

<p>The book has been criticized since its publication for an <a href="/en/Alarmism" title="Alarmism" class="wl">alarmist</a> tone, and over the subsequent decades, for inaccurate assertions and failed predictions. The Ehrlichs themselves stand by the book despite the flaws identified by its critics, with Paul stating in 2009 that "perhaps the most serious flaw in <i>The Bomb</i> was that it was much too optimistic about the future", despite having predicted catastrophic global famines that never came to pass. They believe that it achieved their goals because "it alerted people to the importance of environmental issues and brought human numbers into the debate on the human future."<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-:1_1-1"><a href="#cite_note-:1-1" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 1;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[1]</span></a></span></p>



The Population Bomb is a 1968 book co-authored by Stanford University Professor emeritus Paul R. Ehrlich and Stanford senior researcher emeritus in conservation biology Anne Howland Ehrlich. The book has been criticized since its publication for an alarmist tone, and over the subsequent decades, for inaccurate assertions and failed predictions. The Ehrlichs themselves stand by the book despite the flaws identified by its critics, with Paul stating in 2009 that "perhaps the most serious flaw in The Bomb was that it was much too optimistic about the future", despite having predicted catastrophic global famines that never came to pass. They believe that it achieved their goals because "it alerted people to the importance of environmental issues and brought human numbers into the debate on the human future." 