ABSTRACT
The growth of nearly all populations—whether they be bacteria in a dish, cells in an embryo, or rabbits in Australia–initially follows a pattern of rapidly increasing growth typified by what is called the exponential curve. The human population has been rapidly expanding, and many see this as a negative trend. The rate of growth of a population depends upon the number of people already living, and so an expanding population tends to grow more and more rapidly. In the case of the human population, the super-exponential growth is a direct consequence of the development of language, writing, printing and communication systems, which have brought with them the ability to pool the knowledge acquired over time. Almost everybody is a specialist, and the resulting interdependence and interaction of human society has given rise to a highly complex social structure. Population analysts have made various predictions as to what will happen if the trends continue.
