Technology and economic development

Population, food, water, power, and minerals-these are the principal counters in the world's economy. Nigeria, India, Brazil, the American South-these are typical regions where men have wrestled or are wrestling with the problems of economic development. These form chapter-headings for this Pelican book, in which one of the modern world's most intractable dilemmas is discussed in concrete and specific terms. Acres of newsprint are devoted to angled comment and well-meant generalities on the ways in which advanced industrial societies can help to dispel the poverty which prevails in most of the world. Here, in a series of studies specially commissioned by Scientific American from a team of international experts, are the plain facts of earth's resources and of the human claims upon them. The cover shows an aerial view of the Port Dickson Oil Refinery, Malaya (photo: Shell Oil)