ABSTRACT
A s we saw in the previous chapter, the principal sociocultural change following each technological revolution was a dramatic increase in population. After the Industrial Revolution, in addition, population growth was accompanied by a rise in the number of cities and ultimately an urban way of life that now pervades all industrial societies. In turn, large populations, the industrial system, and an urbanized lifestyle have wreaked havoc on the planet’s environment. They have pushed the human species into acting in ways that are contrary to the ways in which they behaved when small groups of them roamed the vastness of the earth.
