Overview
Explore the demographic transition in Europe and the factors contributing to mortality decline in this 1-hour 9-minute lecture from Yale University's "Global Problems of Population Growth" course. Examine the slow population growth in Europe from 1200-1700, influenced by disease, wars, and poor sanitation. Learn about the high infant mortality rates, harsh child-rearing practices, and ineffective medical treatments of the time. Discover how scientific attitudes, beginning with Newton's Principia and the Enlightenment, led to improvements in sanitation, hygiene, and public health. Investigate the development of inoculation, vaccination, and the Industrial Revolution's impact on falling death rates and population growth. Consider Malthus' concerns about population growth outpacing food supply. Delve into topics such as bride price, personal cleanliness, infanticide, historic misery, and pre-scientific life aspects through various chapters of the lecture.
Syllabus
- Chapter 1. Introduction: Stories about Bride Price
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- Chapter 2. Review of Previous Session: Early Europe
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- Chapter 3. Population Factors: Personal Cleanliness, Infanticide
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- Chapter 4. Historic Misery, Disease, and Medicine
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- Chapter 5. Further Aspects of 'Pre-Scientific' Life
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- Chapter 6. Demographic Transition
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- Chapter 7. Malthus
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