Skip to main content
  • Book
  • © 2011

The Limits to Growth Revisited

Authors:

  • Shows how "The Limits to Growth" is a subject more relevant today than when the book was first published
  • Demonstrates how scenario-building using system dynamics models or other methods is an essential tool in understanding possible futures
  • Examines the factors that may lead to the rejection of good science when the conclusions are unpleasant
  • Separates the reality that the future can never be predicted with certainty from the need to prepare for it
  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Energy (BRIEFSENERGY)

Part of the book sub series: Energy Analysis (ENERGYANALYS)

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 59.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check for access.

Table of contents (12 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiii
  2. Introduction

    • Ugo Bardi
    Pages 1-3
  3. Of Models and Simulations

    • Ugo Bardi
    Pages 15-21
  4. System Dynamics Modeling

    • Ugo Bardi
    Pages 23-29
  5. World Modeling by System Dynamics

    • Ugo Bardi
    Pages 37-47
  6. The Political Debate

    • Ugo Bardi
    Pages 85-94
  7. The Return of World Modeling

    • Ugo Bardi
    Pages 95-100
  8. Conclusion: The Challenges Ahead

    • Ugo Bardi
    Pages 101-104
  9. Back Matter

    Pages 105-119

About this book

“The Limits to Growth” (Meadows, 1972) generated unprecedented controversy with its predictions of the eventual collapse of the world's economies. First hailed as a great advance in science, “The Limits to Growth” was subsequently rejected and demonized. However, with many national economies now at risk and global peak oil apparently a reality, the methods, scenarios, and predictions of “The Limits to Growth” are in great need of reappraisal. In The Limits to Growth Revisited, Ugo Bardi examines both the science and the polemics surrounding this work, and in particular the reactions of economists that marginalized its methods and conclusions for more than 30 years. “The Limits to Growth” was a milestone in attempts to model the future of our society, and it is vital today for both scientists and policy makers to understand its scientific basis, current relevance, and the social and political mechanisms that led to its rejection. Bardi also addresses the all-important question of whether the methods and approaches of “The Limits to Growth” can contribute  to an understanding of what happened to the global economy in the Great Recession and where we are headed from there.

Authors and Affiliations

  • , Dipartimento di Chimica, Università di Firenze, Firenze, Italy

    Ugo Bardi

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 59.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access