The Rational Optimist (55 page)
- Dalkon Shield (contraceptive device) 203
- Dalton, John 221
- Damascus 127
- Damerham, Wiltshire 194
- Danube, River 128, 132
- Darby, Abraham 407
- Darfur 302, 353
- Dark Ages 164, 175–6, 215
- Darwin, Charles 77, 81, 91–2, 105, 116, 350, 415
- Darwin, Erasmus 256
- Darwinism 5
- Davy, Sir Humphry 221, 412
- Dawkins, Richard 5, 51
- DDT (pesticide) 297–8, 299
- de Geer, Louis 184
- de Soto, Hernando 323, 324, 325
- de Waal, Frans 88
- Dean, James 110
- decimal system 173, 178
- deer 32–3, 122
- deflation 24
- Defoe, Daniel 224
- deforestation, predictions of 304–5, 339
- Delhi 189
- Dell (corporation) 268
- Dell, Michael 264
- demographic transition 206–212, 316, 328, 402
- Denmark 200, 344, 366; National Academy of Sciences 280
- Dennett, Dan 350
- dentistry 45
- depression (psychological) 8, 156
- depressions (economic) 3, 31, 32, 186–7, 192, 289;
see also
economic crashes
- deserts, expanding 28, 280
- Detroit 315, 355
- Dhaka 189
- diabetes 156, 274, 306
- Diamond, Jared 293–4, 380
- diamonds 320, 322
- Dickens, Charles 220
- Diesel, Rudolf 146
- Digital Equipment Corporation 260, 282
- digital photography 114, 386
- Dimawe, battle of (1852) 321
- Diocletian, Roman emperor 175, 184
- Diodorus 169
- diprotodons 69
- discount merchandising 112–14
- division of labour: Adam Smith on vii, 80; and catallaxy 56; and fragmented government 172; in insects 75–6, 87–8; and population growth 211; by sex 61–5, 136, 376; and specialisation 7, 33, 38, 46, 61, 76–7, 175; among strangers and enemies 87–9; and trust 100; and urbanisation 164
- DNA: forensic use 20; gene transfer 153
- dogs 43, 56, 61, 84, 125
- Doll, Richard 298
- Dolphin
, HMS 169
- dolphins 3, 87
- Domesday Book 215
- Doriot, Georges 261
- ‘dot-communism’ 356
- Dover Castle 197
- droughts: modern 241, 300, 334; prehistoric 54, 65, 334
- drug crime 106, 186
- DuPont (corporation) 31
- dyes 167, 225, 257, 263
- dynamos 217, 233–4, 271–2, 289
- dysentery 157, 353
- eagles 17, 239, 299, 409
- East India Company 225, 226
- Easter Island 380
- Easterbrook, Greg 294, 300, 370
- Easterlin, Richard 26
- Easterly, William 318, 411
- eBay (corporation) 21, 99, 100, 114, 115
- Ebla, Syria 164
- Ebola virus 307
- economic booms 9, 29, 216
- economic crashes 7–8, 9, 193; credit crunch (2008) 8–10, 28–9, 31, 100, 102, 316, 355, 399, 411;
see also
depressions (economic)
- ecosystems, dynamism of 250–51, 303, 410
- Ecuador 87
- Edinburgh Review
285
- Edison, Thomas 234, 246, 272, 412
- education: Africa 320; Japan 16; measuring value of 117; and population control 209, 210; universal access 106, 235; women and 209, 210
- Edwards, Robert 306
- Eemian interglacial period 52–3
- Egypt: ancient 161, 166, 167, 170, 171, 192, 193, 197, 270, 334; Mamluk 182; modern 142, 154, 192, 301, 323; prehistoric 44, 45, 125, 126; Roman 174, 175, 178
- Ehrenreich, Barbara 291
- Ehrlich, Anne 203, 301–2
- Ehrlich, Paul 143, 190, 203, 207, 301–2, 303
- electric motors 271–2, 283
- electricity 233–5, 236, 237, 245–6, 337, 343–4; costs 23; dynamos 217, 233–4, 271–2, 289
- elephants 51, 54, 69, 303, 321
- Eliot, T.S. 289
- email 292
- emigration 199–200, 202;
see also
migrations empathy 94–8
- empires, trading 160–61;
see also
imperialism enclosure acts 226, 323, 406
- endocrine disruptors 293
- Engels, Friedrich 107–8, 136
- England: agriculture 194–6, 215; infant mortality 284; law 118; life expectancy 13, 284; medieval population 194–7; per capita income 196; scientific revolution 255–7; trade 75, 89, 104, 106, 118, 169, 194;
see also
Britain
- Enron (corporation) 29, 111, 385
- Erie, Lake 17
- Erie Canal 139, 283
- ethanol 240–42, 300
- Ethiopia 14, 316, 319; prehistoric 52, 53, 129
- eugenics 288, 329
- Euphrates river 127, 158, 161, 167, 177
- evolution, biological 5, 6, 7, 49–50, 55–6, 75, 271, 350
- Ewald, Paul 309
- exchange: etiquette and ritual of 133–4; and innovation 71–2, 76, 119, 167–8, 251, 269–74; and pre-industrial economies 133–4; and property rights 324–5; and rule of law 116, 117–18; and sexual division of labour 65; and specialisation 7, 10, 33, 35, 37–8, 46, 56, 58, 75, 90, 132–3, 350–52, 355, 358–9; and trust 98–100, 103, 104; as unique human trait 56–60; and virtue 100–104;
see also
bartering; markets; trade
- executions 104
- extinctions 17, 43, 64, 68, 69–70, 243, 293, 302, 338–9
- Exxon (corporation) 111, 115
- eye colour 129
- Ezekiel 167, 168
- Facebook (website) 262, 268, 356
- factories 160, 214, 218, 219–20, 221, 223, 256, 258–9, 284–5
- falcons 299
- family formation 195, 209–210, 211, 227
- famines: modern 141, 143, 154, 199, 203, 302; pessimism about 280, 281, 284, 290, 300–302, 314; pre-industrial 45, 139, 195, 197
- Faraday, Michael 271–2
- Fargione, Joseph 242
- farming: battery 104, 145–6; free-range 146, 308; intensive 143–9; organic 147, 149–52, 393; slash-and-burn 87, 129, 130; subsidies 188, 328; subsistence 87, 138, 175–6, 189, 192, 199–200;
see also
agriculture; food supply
- fascism 289
- Fauchart, Emmanuelle 264
- fax machines 252
- Feering, Essex 195
- Fehr, Ernst 94–6
- female emancipation 107, 108–9, 209
- feminism 109
- Ferguson, Adam 1
- Ferguson, Niall 85
- Fermat’s Last Theorem 275
- fermenting 130, 241
- Ferranti, Sebastian de 234
- Fertile Crescent 126, 251
- fertilisation, in-vitro 306
- fertilisers 32, 129, 135, 139–41, 142, 143, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149–50, 152, 155, 200, 337
- Fibonacci 178
- figs 125, 129
- filariasis 310
- Finland 15, 35, 261
- fire, invention of 4, 50, 51, 52, 60, 274
- First World War 289, 309
- fish, sex-change 280, 293
- fish farming 148, 155
- fishing 62, 63–4, 71, 78–9, 81–2, 125, 127, 129, 136, 159, 162, 163, 327
- Fishman, Charles 113
- Flanders 179, 181, 194
- flight, powered 257, 261, 264, 266
- Flinders Island 81, 84
- floods 128, 250, 329, 331, 334, 335, 426
- Florence 89, 103, 115, 178
- flowers, cut 42, 327, 328
- flu, pandemic 28, 145–6, 308–310
- Flynn, James 19
- Fontaine, Hippolyte 233–4
- food aid 28, 141, 154, 203
- food miles 41–2, 353, 392;
see also
local sourcing
- food preservation 139, 145, 258
- food prices 20, 22, 23, 34, 39, 40, 42, 240, 241, 300
- food processing 29–30, 60–61, 145;
see also
baking; cooking
- food retailing 36, 112, 148, 268;
see also
supermarkets
- food sharing 56, 59–60, 64
- food supply: and biofuels 240–41, 243, 300; and climate change 337–8; and industrialisation 139, 201–2; pessimism about 280, 281, 284, 290, 300–302; and population growth 139, 141, 143–4, 146–7, 192, 206, 208–9, 300–302
- Ford, Ford Maddox 188
- Ford, Henry 24, 114, 189, 271
- Forester, Jay 303
- forests, fears of depletion 304–5, 339
- fossil fuels: and ecology 237, 240, 304, 315, 342–3, 345–6; fertilisers 143, 150, 155, 237; and industrialisation 214, 216–17, 229–33, 352; and labour saving 236–7; and productivity 244–5; supplies 216–17, 229–30, 237–8, 245, 302–3;
see also
charcoal; coal; gas, natural; oil; peat
- Fourier analysis 283
- FOXP2 (gene) 55, 375
- fragmentation, political 170–73, 180–81, 184, 185
- France: capital markets 259; famine 197; infant mortality 16; population growth 206, 208; revolution 324; trade 184, 186, 222
- Franco, Francisco 186
- Frank, Robert 95–6
- Franken, Al 291
- Franklin, Benjamin 107, 256
- Franks 176
- Fray Bentos 186
- free choice 27–8, 107–110, 291–2
- free-range farming 146, 308
- French Revolution 324
- Friedel, Robert 224
- Friedman, Milton 111
- Friend, Sir Richard 257
- Friends of the Earth 154, 155
- Fry, Art 261
- Fuji (corporation) 114, 386
- Fujian, China 89, 183
- fur trade 169, 180
- futurology 354–5
- Gadir (Cadiz) 168–9, 170
- Gaelic language 129
- Galbraith, J.K. 16
- Galdikas, Birute 60
- Galilee, Sea of 124
- Galileo 115
- Gandhi, Indira 203, 204
- Gandhi, Sanjay 203–4
- Ganges, River 147, 172
- gas, natural 235, 236, 237, 240, 302, 303, 337
- Gates, Bill 106, 264, 268
- GDP per capita (world), increases in 11, 349
- Genentech (corporation) 259, 405
- General Electric Company 261, 264
- General Motors (corporation) 115
- generosity 86–7, 94–5
- genetic research 54, 151, 265, 306–7, 310, 356, 358
- genetically modified (GM) crops 28, 32, 148, 151–6, 283, 358
- Genghis Khan 182
- Genoa 89, 169, 178, 180
- genome sequencing 265
- geothermal power 246, 344
- Germany: Great Depression (1930s) 31; industrialisation 202; infant mortality 16; Nazism 109, 289; population growth 202; predicted deforestation 304, 305; prehistoric 70, 138; trade 179–80, 187;
see also
West Germany
- Ghana 187, 189, 316, 326
- Gibraltar, Strait of 180
- gift giving 87, 92, 133, 134
- Gilbert, Daniel 4
- Gilgamesh, King 159
- Ginsberg, Allen 110
- Gintis, Herb 86
- Gladstone, William 237
- Glaeser, Edward 190
- Glasgow 315
- glass 166, 174–5, 177, 259
- glass fibre 303
- Global Humanitarian Forum 337
- global warming
see
climate change globalisation 290, 358
- ‘glorious revolution’ (1688) 223
- GM (genetically modified) crops 28, 148, 151–6, 283, 358
- goats 122, 126, 144, 145, 197, 320
- Goethe, Johann von 104
- Goklany, Indur 143–4, 341, 426
- gold 165, 177, 303
- golden eagles 239, 409
- golden toads 338
- Goldsmith, Edward 291
- Google (corporation) 21, 100, 114, 259, 260, 268, 355
- Gore, Al 233, 291
- Goths 175
- Gott, Richard 294
- Gramme, Zénobe Théophile 233–4
- Grantham, George 401
- gravity, discovery of 258
- Gray, John 285, 291
- Great Barrier Reef 250
- Greece: ancient 115, 128, 161, 170–71, 173–4; modern 186
- greenhouse gases 152, 155, 242, 329;
see also
carbon dioxide emissions
- Greenland: ice cap 125, 130, 313, 334, 339, 426; Inuits 61; Norse 380
- Greenpeace 154, 155, 281, 385
- Grottes des Pigeons, Morocco 53
- Groves, Leslie 412
- Growth is Good for the Poor
(World Bank study) 317
- guano 139–40, 302
- Guatemala 209
- Gujarat 162, 174
- Gujaratis 89
- Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden 184
- Gutenberg, Johann 184, 253
- Guth, Werner 86
- habeas corpus 358
- Haber, Fritz 140, 412
- Hadza people 61, 63, 87
- Haiti 14, 301, 315
- Halaf people 130
- Hall, Charles Martin 24
- Halley, Edmond 256
- HANPP (human appropriation of net primary productivity) number 144–5
- Hanseatic merchants 89, 179–80, 196
- Hansen, James 426
- hanta virus 307
- happiness 25–8, 191
- Harappa, Indus valley 161–2
- Hardin, Garrett 203
- harems 136
- Hargreaves, James 227, 256
- Harlem, Holland 215–16
- Harper’s Weekly
23
- Harvey, William 256
- hay 214–15, 216, 239, 408–9
- Hayek, Friedrich 5, 19, 38, 56, 250, 280, 355
- heart disease 18, 156, 295
- ‘hedonic treadmill’ 27
- height, average human 16, 18
- Heller, Michael 265–6
- Hellespont 128, 170
- Henrich, Joe 77, 377
- Henry II, King of England 118
- Henry, Joseph 271, 272
- Henry, William 221
- Heraclitus 251
- herbicides 145, 152, 153–4
- herding 130–31
- Hero of Alexandria 270
- Herschel, Sir William 221
- Hesiod 292
- Hippel, Eric von 273
- hippies 26, 110, 175
- Hiroshima 283
- Hitler, Adolf 16, 184, 296
- Hittites 166, 167
- HIV/AIDS 8, 14, 307–8, 310, 316, 319, 320, 322, 331, 353
- Hiwi people 61
- Hobbes, Thomas 96
- Hock, Dee 254
- Hohle Fels, Germany 70
- Holdren, John 203, 207, 311
- Holland: agriculture 153; golden age 185, 201, 215–16, 223; horticulture 42; industrialisation 215–16, 226; innovations 264; trade 31, 89, 104, 106, 185, 223, 328
- Holy Roman Empire 178, 265–6
- Homer 2, 102, 168
- Homestead Act (1862) 323
- homicide 14, 20, 85, 88, 106, 118, 201
- Homo erectus
49, 68, 71, 373
- Homo heidelbergensis
49, 50–52, 373
- Homo sapiens
, emergence of 52–3
- Hong Kong 31, 83, 158, 169, 187, 219, 328
- Hongwu, Chinese emperor 183
- Hood, Leroy 222, 405
- Hooke, Robert 256
- horses 48, 68, 69, 129, 140, 197, 215, 282, 408–9; shoes and harnesses 176, 215
- housing costs 20, 25, 34, 39–40, 234, 368
- Hoxha, Enver 187
- Hrdy, Sarah 88
- Huber, Peter 244, 344
- Hueper, Wilhelm 297
- Huguenots 184
- Huia (birds) 64
- human sacrifice 104
- Hume, David 96, 103, 104, 170
- humour 2
- Hunan 177
- Hungary 222
- Huns 175
- hunter-gatherers: consumption and production patterns 29–30, 123; division of labour 61–5, 76, 136; famines 45, 139; limitations of band size 77; modern societies 66–7, 76, 77–8, 80, 87, 135–6, 136–7; nomadism 130; nostalgia for life of 43–5, 135, 137; permanent settlements 128; processing of food 29, 38, 61; technological regress 78–84; trade 72, 77–8, 81, 92–3, 123, 136–7; violence and warfare 27, 44–5, 136, 137
- hunting 61–4, 68–70, 125–6, 130, 339
- Huron Indians 138–9
- hurricanes 329, 335, 337
- Hurst, Blake 152
- Hutterites 211
- Huxley, Aldous 289, 354
- hydroelectric power 236, 239, 343, 344, 409
- hyenas 43, 50, 54