The Ehrlich Legacy

Explore why 'The Population Bomb' ranks high on Daniel Drezner's list of worst books in international relations. Curious about its impact?

Written byKeith Kloor
| 1 min read
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"The Population Bomb" is number three on Daniel Drezner's top ten worst books in international relations.

First, he [Ehrlich] was wrong on the specifics. Second, by garnering so much attention by being wrong, he contributed to the belief that alarmism was the best way to get people to pay attention to the environment. Third, by crying wolf so many times, Ehrlich numbed many into not buying actual, real environmental threats.

That's not an unfair assessment, though I consider "The Population Bomb" a product of its times. But if you're talking real fallout, why is Pollock's "The Threatening Storm" number ten?

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