The Limits to Growth, Donella H. Meadows, Dennis L. Meadows, Jorgen Randers, William W. Behrens III, Universe Books. (1972)

This book reported on a computer project and reported on the predicament of mankind, it was a report for the Club of Rome.  For many this was the first book of its kind and it was for many, the point where they realized that there were limits to growth.

The idea was not new, I was introduced to the idea by my history teacher Charles B. Fielding.  Mr. Fielding was not famous, nor a well known academic.  As I recall, Mr. Fielding was from Barrow-in-Furness, he was a teacher at several schools in Swansea, Wales.  He was, simply, the best teacher that I have ever known - and he deserves much of the credit for my skills as writer and an analytical thinker.  It is of interest, and says much for the value of a liberal arts education, that the two most influential people in my education were historians.  Charles Fielding was one, the other was the renowned Swansea historian Norman Lewis Thomas, who was at school with my father.  They of course didn't contribute to the development of my mathematical skills, but that is a story for another time.  Mr. Fielding inspired me to read Thomas Malthus; An Essay on the Principles of Population (2nd Edition, 1803) by Malthus is the true source of all work on the limits to growth.

Later work that predates the Club of Rome efforts is that of M. King Hubbert, Hubbert focuses on resources - the Limits to Growth would have been better if it had been informed by some of Hubbert's ideas.

Since this work has been updated many times, I will note that this is a book that everyone who is interested in growth and the limits to growth should read.  It is easy to read because it has been made available on the web.  The original can be legally downloaded from the Donella Meadows Institute.   Since the original work has been greatly modified and updated since it was published, I will save a detailed review for a later version.  At this point, I will say that if you are not familiar with Meadows, you should download this now.  Resource limitations, conservation, and climate change should not be political issues, they are critical to the future that we are creating for our children and grandchildren.