Encyclopedia, Difference between revisions of "Kingsley Davis" - New World

From New World Encyclopedia
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*Davis, Kingsley. ''Cities: Their Origin, Growth and Human Impact'' (W.H. Freeman, 1973)
 
*Davis, Kingsley. ''Cities: Their Origin, Growth and Human Impact'' (W.H. Freeman, 1973)
 
*Davis, Kingsley. ''World Urbanization'' 1950-1970 (Berkeley Institute of International Studies, 1972)
 
*Davis, Kingsley. ''World Urbanization'' 1950-1970 (Berkeley Institute of International Studies, 1972)
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*Davis, Kingsley. ''Extreme Social Isolation of a Child'' (American Journal of Sociology, 1940)
  
 
==External Links==
 
==External Links==
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*[http://www.aps-pub.com/proceedings/1433/Davis.pdf Biography] American Philosophical Society.
 
*[http://www.aps-pub.com/proceedings/1433/Davis.pdf Biography] American Philosophical Society.
 
*[http://www.northwestwatch.org/ Northwest Environment Watch]
 
*[http://www.northwestwatch.org/ Northwest Environment Watch]
*[http://www.bookrags.com/biography-kingsley-davis-soc/ Kingsley Davis]
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*[http://www.bookrags.com/biography-kingsley-davis-soc/ Kingsley Davis] World of Sociology.
  
 
==References==
 
==References==

Revision as of 14:58, 3 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 continued 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 1997, Davis would eventually succumb to Parkinson’s disease in his home in Stanford, CA. He was the father of four.

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.

Davis is well known for his coinage of the terms zero population growth and population explosion. The terms are briefly detailed below.

Zero Population Growth

Zero Population Growth, a concept defined 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 of the population. This state is often a goal of demographic planners and environmentalists who believe that reducing population growth is essential for the health of the ecosphere. Achieving ZPG is difficult as a country's population growth is often determined by various economic factors.

Population Explosion

According to Davis, a population explosion refers to an increase in the population of some plant, animal or insect. In many circumstances, conditions of population explosion lead to the inability of a population’s environment to properly sustain that population. Without the necessary environmental conditions, populations experiencing explosions can face significant decimation, or population busts.

Legacy

Kingsley Davis is credited with the complex development of a social theory to define the general science encompassing human societies. In 1981, Davis was honored with a Hoover Research Fellowship and was appointed the institution’s senior research fellow. In 1982, Davis received the Career of Distinguished scholarship Award from the American Sociological Association. He was later named President of both the Population Association of American and the American Sociological Association. Davis served as the United States representative on the United Nation’s Population Committee, and was a member of NASA’s Advisory Council. In addition to scholarly journals, Davis’ work appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Commentary and Foreign Affairs.

Davis maintained a lifelong interest in the comparative studies of population structure and change. His studies of family structures in America and the institution of marriage lead to his belief that factors of contraception, divorce and gender equality would lead to the weakening of matrimonial bonds.

Davis’ studies of industrial and non-industrial societies also lead to his 1957 prediction that the world’s population would reach six billion in the year 2000. Davis’ prediction would prove remarkably accurate, as world population reached six billion in October of 1999.

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, 1972)
  • Davis, Kingsley. Extreme Social Isolation of a Child (American Journal of Sociology, 1940)

External Links

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Encyclopædia Britannica. 2006. Kingsley Davis. Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service. Encyclopedia Britannica Kingsley Davis
  • Horaney, Michelle. 1997. Kingsley Davis Obituary. Stanford University News Service. Stanford, CA.

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