Molecular Physiology of Growth Book

Any man who writes a book with "what women want" in the title opens himself to mockery, but Engelman's conclusion is close enough to the Wife of Bath's that he can almost be forgiven it.

Taking a Malthusian view of population increase, Engelman notes that the "natural" curbs on population growth outpacing sustainability are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Famine, War, and Pestilence (Death, as Engelman notes, is just the body-collector for the other 3). However, Engelman sees a better way: given access to a complete portfolio of family planning services, women (on average) tend to choose a sustainable population level. Not men. No doubt this is because typical women's reproductive agendas (fewer children, higerh level of investment) is more adaptive to a crowded planet than the typical man's. However it is a more empowering philosophy than trying to force population control through government.

Included in this book is a history of demographics, a history of family planning, and Engelman's interesting reading of some Biblical stories through the eyes of his own concerns. And the interesting fact that George H.W. Bush used to be such a proponent of family planning that he got the nickname "Rubbers" before he sold out to the Reaganites.