Offers a number of plausible alternative futures based largely on the author's research of trends over the last fifty years, focusing on population, natural resources, food, energy, industry, transportation and communication and considers global issues such as the stability of the worldwide social and political systems, threats to the natural environment and the respective living conditions in the rich and poor areas of the world. Whilst the book proposes a number of conclusions, its primary purpose is provide to background information, statistics and calculations as the basis for speculation by others.