Encyclopedia, Difference between revisions of "Kingsley Davis" - New World
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==Life== | ==Life== | ||
| + | Kingsley Davis, grand-nephew to the confederate President Jefferson Davis, was born in 1908 in Tuxedo, Texas. After graduating from the University of Texas in 1930 with a B.A. in English, Davis would continue in his education earning a M.A in philosophy from the university in 1332, and a M.A. in sociology from Harvard University in 1933. Three years later, while an assistant sociology professor at Smith College, Davis earned a PhD from Harvard University. | ||
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| + | Shortly after, Davis would begin an esteemed teaching career accepting positions at Clark University, Pennsylvania State University and serving as an associate professor of anthropology and sociology at Princeton University. While there, Davis would complete and publish his first work, Human Society (1949), and was later invited to direct the Bureau of Applied Social Research at Columbia University. | ||
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| + | Davis’ mastery of demography would later lead him to the University of California Berkeley where he would remain for more than twenty years as a professor of sociology and comparative studies. In 1977 Davis accepted his final professorship within the sociology department of the University of Southern California. In 1981, Davis was honored with a Hoover Research Fellowship and was appointed the institution’s senior research fellow. | ||
==Work== | ==Work== | ||
| + | Throughout his career, Davis lead a number of Carnegie sponsored social-science teams throughout areas of Africa, India, Europe and Latin America to gather research and direct international studies of societies. It was while on these expeditions that Davis developed his social theories for a general science of human society. During this time Davis would publish a range of studies including The Population of India (1951) and the two-volume World Urbanization (1972). | ||
| − | + | Davis’ mastery of international demographics and sociological phenomena inspired him to produce a number of esteemed publications encompassing global population problems, international migration, world urbanization and population policies. Davis’ international expertise in world population growth and resources also lead him to promote the global use of fertility control. | |
| − | Zero population growth is achieved when the | + | ===Zero Population Growth=== |
| + | Zero Population Growth, a concept coined by Davis, is a condition of demographic balance where population in a specified population neither grows nor declines. | ||
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| + | Zero population growth is achieved when the birth rate of a population equals the death rate. | ||
Zero population growth is often a goal of demographic planners and environmentalists who believe that reducing population growth is essential for the health of the ecosphere. However, achieving ZPG is difficult because a country's population growth is often determined by economic factors, incidence of poverty, etc. | Zero population growth is often a goal of demographic planners and environmentalists who believe that reducing population growth is essential for the health of the ecosphere. However, achieving ZPG is difficult because a country's population growth is often determined by economic factors, incidence of poverty, etc. | ||
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| + | ===Population Explosion=== | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==Legacy== | ||
==Publications== | ==Publications== | ||
Revision as of 14:43, 2 August 2006
Kingsley Davis (August 20, 1908- February 27, 1997) was an esteemed sociologist and demographer, contributing to the complex study of American society and the studies of human societies worldwide. A Hoover Institution Senior Research Fellow, Davis is credited with the coining of the terms population explosion and zero population growth, and was the first sociologist to be elected into the United States National Academy of Sciences.
Life
Kingsley Davis, grand-nephew to the confederate President Jefferson Davis, was born in 1908 in Tuxedo, Texas. After graduating from the University of Texas in 1930 with a B.A. in English, Davis would continue in his education earning a M.A in philosophy from the university in 1332, and a M.A. in sociology from Harvard University in 1933. Three years later, while an assistant sociology professor at Smith College, Davis earned a PhD from Harvard University.
Shortly after, Davis would begin an esteemed teaching career accepting positions at Clark University, Pennsylvania State University and serving as an associate professor of anthropology and sociology at Princeton University. While there, Davis would complete and publish his first work, Human Society (1949), and was later invited to direct the Bureau of Applied Social Research at Columbia University.
Davis’ mastery of demography would later lead him to the University of California Berkeley where he would remain for more than twenty years as a professor of sociology and comparative studies. In 1977 Davis accepted his final professorship within the sociology department of the University of Southern California. In 1981, Davis was honored with a Hoover Research Fellowship and was appointed the institution’s senior research fellow.
Work
Throughout his career, Davis lead a number of Carnegie sponsored social-science teams throughout areas of Africa, India, Europe and Latin America to gather research and direct international studies of societies. It was while on these expeditions that Davis developed his social theories for a general science of human society. During this time Davis would publish a range of studies including The Population of India (1951) and the two-volume World Urbanization (1972).
Davis’ mastery of international demographics and sociological phenomena inspired him to produce a number of esteemed publications encompassing global population problems, international migration, world urbanization and population policies. Davis’ international expertise in world population growth and resources also lead him to promote the global use of fertility control.
Zero Population Growth
Zero Population Growth, a concept coined by Davis, is a condition of demographic balance where population in a specified population neither grows nor declines.
Zero population growth is achieved when the birth rate of a population equals the death rate.
Zero population growth is often a goal of demographic planners and environmentalists who believe that reducing population growth is essential for the health of the ecosphere. However, achieving ZPG is difficult because a country's population growth is often determined by economic factors, incidence of poverty, etc.
Population Explosion
Legacy
Publications
- Davis, Kingsley. Human Society (MacMillan, 1949)
- Davis, Kingsley. The Population of India and Pakistan (Princeton University Press, 1951)
- Davis, Kingsley. Cities: Their Origin, Growth and Human Impact (W.H. Freeman, 1973).
- Davis, Kingsley. World Urbanization 1950-1970 (Berkeley: Institute of International Studies, 1969, 1972)
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Encyclopædia Britannica. 2006. Kingsley Davis. Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service. Encyclopedia Britannica Kingsley Davis
External links
- Obituary at Stanford News
- Biography at the American Sociological Association
- Biography from Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society
- Enviro, Population Movements Merge Goals for Healthier Planet
- World Watch Institute
- Northwest Environment Watch
Credits
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