Only one earth : the care and maintenance of a small planet

This report on the relationship between man and his natural evnironment was prepared after consultation with worldwide experts as background to the discussions of the U.N. Conference on the Human Environment. Expert opinion represented different social values and different emphases. The committee of consultants is listed. Man inhabits the natural and the social/technological world and is caught in the middle. A detailed treatment is presented of the development through history of knowledge industry technology and economy. The chapters on the development of science deal with the balance between matter and energy and the balance between the different branches of life supported by the earth. The chapters dealing with technology discuss resources and pollution. Chapters dealing with national development consider such things as human living arrangements developing countries and policies for growth potential. Various tentative strategies for survival are outlined.