Article
ID: CBB000954821

Modelling the Future: An Overview of the “Limits to Growth” Debate (2010)

unapi
Limits of science Mathematics and its relationship to science Environmental sciences Models and modeling in science Demography; population research 20th century, late Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT Club of Rome

The 1972 publication of "The Limits to growth" report, prepared by Dennis Meadows and a research group from the MIT for the Club of Rome, provoked a major debate about the possible harmful effects of economic and population growth in the long term and whether such growth can be sustained. In this article I will show how the evolution of the discourse of the Club of Rome's founder about technology was shaped by the broader cultural evolutions of the 1945--1970 period. I will also argue that the modelling carried out by the MIT researchers and their opponents is political, and that much of what they produced was heavily influenced by ideologies, especially technological ones. Finally, I will consider the role mathematical modelling played in attracting attention to the report and consider why this interest was not maintained in the long term.

...More
Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB000954821/

Similar Citations

Article Levallois, Clement; (2010)
Can De-Growth Be Considered a Policy Option? A Historical Note on Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen and the Club of Rome (/isis/citation/CBB001022690/)

Article Williams, Lambert; Thomas, William; (2009)
The Epistemologies of Non-Forecasting Simulations, Part II: Climate, Chaos, Computing Style, and the Contextual Plasticity of Error (/isis/citation/CBB000932756/)

Article Thomas, William; Williams, Lambert; (2009)
The Epistemologies of Non-Forecasting Simulations, Part I: Industrial Dynamics and Management Pedagogy at MIT (/isis/citation/CBB000932755/)

Article Moreira, Tiago; Palladino, Paolo; (2011)
“Population Laboratories” or “Laboratory Populations”? Making Sense of the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, 1965--1987 (/isis/citation/CBB001024017/)

Article Bernstein, Leslie R.; (2014)
Constantine Trahiotis and Hearing Science: A Half-Century of Contributions and Collaborations (/isis/citation/CBB001201088/)

Thesis Valles, Sean A.; (2010)
Explaining the Evolution of Common Genetic Disease (/isis/citation/CBB001567174/)

Article Basak, Subhash C.; (2013)
Philosophy of Mathematical Chemistry: A Personal Perspective (/isis/citation/CBB001320762/)

Chapter Keiner, Christine; (2004)
Modeling Neptune's Garden: The Chesapeake Bay Hydraulic Model, 1965--1984 (/isis/citation/CBB000650825/)

Article Baker, Kevin T.; (2017)
Simulation and “Seduction” at the Policy Interface (/isis/citation/CBB450364367/)

Article Kieken, Hubert; (2004)
RAINS: Modéliser les pollutions atmosphériques pour la négociation internationale (/isis/citation/CBB000551188/)

Book Ridley, B. K.; (2001)
On Science (/isis/citation/CBB000101878/)

Article Cramer, J. S.; (2004)
The Early Origins of the Logit Model (/isis/citation/CBB000501626/)

Article Alisa Bokulich; (2015)
Maxwell, Helmholtz, and the Unreasonable Effectiveness of the Method of Physical Analogy (/isis/citation/CBB591442121/)

Article Ducheyne, Steffen; (2005)
Mathematical Models in Newton's Principia: A New View of the “Newtonian Style” (/isis/citation/CBB000650801/)

Article Gramelsberger, Gabriele; (2011)
What Do Numerical (Climate) Models Really Represent? (/isis/citation/CBB001024172/)

Thesis Harris, Todd Roberson; (2002)
The construction and manipulation of data models in cell biology (/isis/citation/CBB001562151/)

Article Gavroglu, Kostas; (2000)
Theoretical Chemistry in the Making: Appropriating Concepts and Legitimising Techniques (/isis/citation/CBB000110065/)

Chapter Kavita Sivaramakrishnan; (2021)
Contingent Futures, Continuous Pasts: Experts, Activists and Social and Disease Transitions (1950–80s) (/isis/citation/CBB300758361/)

Chapter Porter, Theodore M.; (2002)
Models, Analogies, and Statistical Reason, 1760-1900 (/isis/citation/CBB000201994/)

Chapter Grevsmühl, Sebastian Vincent; (2008)
Das modellierte Antlitz der Erde. Zur Geschichte der Modellierungsstrategien der Kontinentalverschiebung (/isis/citation/CBB001211728/)

Authors & Contributors
Williams, Lambert
Thomas, William
Baker, Kevin T.
Sivaramakrishnan, Kavita
Valles, Sean A.
Ridley, B. K.
Journals
Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences
Studies in History and Philosophy of Science
Science in Context
Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics
Revue d'Histoire des Sciences
Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Publishers
University of California, Davis
UCL Press
Palgrave
Indiana University
Concepts
Models and modeling in science
Mathematics and its relationship to science
Demography; population research
Chemistry
Computer Simulation
Meteorology
People
Wegener, Alfred Lothar
Pauling, Linus Carl
Trahiotis, Constantine
Shaw, Robert
Plato
Newton, Isaac
Time Periods
20th century, late
20th century
19th century
Ancient
21st century
17th century
Places
United States
Chesapeake Bay (North America)
New England (U.S.)
Greece
Germany
Europe
Institutions
Club of Rome
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT
University of California, Santa Cruz
Princeton University
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment

Creative Commons License REST API