This breakthrough scientific masterwork - and INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER - reveals the underlying forces that have shaped human history and will secure our future... 'Masterful. Galor answers the ultimate mystery' Lewis Dartnell The stunning advances that have transformed human experience in recent centuries are no accident of history - they are the result of universal and timeless forces, operating since the dawn of our species. Drawing on a lifetime's scientific investigation, Oded Galor's ground-breaking new vision overturns a host of long-held assumptions to reveal the deeper causes that have shaped the journey of humanity: Education rather than industrialisation Family size and gender equality as much as inventions and technology Geography and diversity rather than wars, disease and famine 'Unparalleled in its scope and ambition . . . All readers will learn something' Washington Post 'An inspiring, readable, jargon-free and almost impossibly erudite masterwork' New Statesman 'His optimism about humanity shines through' Observer 'If you need an evidence-based antidote to doomscrolling, here it is' Guardian

In this innovative collection, Oded Galor brings together some of the most influential contributions to the modern literature on income distribution and economic growth. Initially the essential volume analyses the importance of inequality and development, past and present. Further, it explores human capital formation, gender inequality, landownership, ethical division and political transitions. The editor has written an authoritative and lively introduction that provides a much-needed insight into this valuable field of study.

A grand unifying theory of human flourishing and inequality, from one of the world’s pre-eminent thinkers.

In a captivating journey from the dawn of human existence to the present, world-renowned economist and thinker Oded Galor offers an intriguing solution to two of humanity’s great mysteries.

Why are humans the only species to have escaped – only very recently – the subsistence trap, allowing us to enjoy a standard of living that vastly exceeds all others? And why have we progressed so unequally around the world, resulting in the great disparities between nations that exist today? Immense in scope and packed with astounding connections, Galor’s gripping narrative explains how technology, population size, and adaptation led to a stunning “phase change” in the human story a mere two hundred years ago. But by tracing that same journey back in time and peeling away the layers of influence – colonialism, political institutions, societal structure, culture – he arrives also at an explanation of inequality’s ultimate causes: those ancestral populations that enjoyed fruitful geographical characteristics and rich diversity were set on the path to prosperity, while those that lacked it were disadvantaged in ways still echoed today.

As we face ecological crisis across the globe, The Journey of Humanity is a book of urgent truths and enduring relevance, with lessons that are both hopeful and profound: gender equality, investment in education, and balancing diversity with social cohesion are the keys not only to our species’ thriving, but to its survival.

This book provides an introduction to discrete dynamical systems - a framework of analysis that is commonly used in the ?elds of biology, demography, ecology, economics, engineering, ?nance, and physics. The book characterizes the fundamental factors that govern the quantitative and qualitative trajectories of a variety of deterministic, discrete dynamical systems, providing solution methods for systems that can be solved analytically and methods of qualitative analysis for those systems that do not permit or necessitate an explicit solution. The analysis focuses initially on the characterization of the factors that govern the evolution of state variables in the elementary context of one-dimensional, ?rst-order, linear, autonomous systems. The f- damental insights about the forces that a?ect the evolution of these - ementary systems are subsequently generalized, and the determinants of the trajectories of multi-dimensional, nonlinear, higher-order, non- 1 autonomous dynamical systems are established. Chapter 1 focuses on the analysis of the evolution of state variables in one-dimensional, ?rst-order, autonomous systems. It introduces a method of solution for these systems, and it characterizes the traj- tory of a state variable, in relation to a steady-state equilibrium of the system, examining the local and global (asymptotic) stability of this steady-state equilibrium. The ?rst part of the chapter characterizes the factors that determine the existence, uniqueness and stability of a steady-state equilibrium in the elementary context of one-dimensional, ?rst-order, linear autonomous systems.

For most of the vast span of human history, economic growth was all but nonexistent. Then, about two centuries ago, some nations began to emerge from this epoch of economic stagnation, experiencing sustained economic growth that led to significant increases in standards of living and profoundly altered the level and distribution of wealth, population, education, and health across the globe. The question ever since has been--why?

This is the first book to put forward a unified theory of economic growth that accounts for the entire growth process, from the dawn of civilization to today. Oded Galor, who founded the field of unified growth theory, identifies the historical and prehistorical forces behind the differential transition timing from stagnation to growth and the emergence of income disparity around the world. Galor shows how the interaction between technological progress and population ultimately raised the importance of education in coping with the rapidly changing technological environment, brought about significant reduction in fertility rates, and enabled some economies to devote greater resources toward a steady increase in per capita income, paving the way for sustained economic growth.Presents a unified theory of economic growth from the dawn of civilization to today Explains the worldwide disparities in living standards and population we see today Provides a comprehensive overview of the three phases of the development process Analyzes the Malthusian theory and its empirical support Examines theories of demographic transition and their empirical significance Explores the interaction between economic development and human evolution

A landmark account of our journey from the dawn of human existence to the present - with vital lessons for our future. What are the keys to human progress? In the last two hundred years, stunning advances in health, wealth and lifespan have fundamentally transformed the experience of being human, at least for some. But this was no accident of history. Drawing on a lifetime's investigation, Oded Galor identifies the universal forces behind this change, and so unlocks the mystery of human development. Galor's breakthrough vision upends many assumptions. The game-changing revolution of recent centuries was not industrialisation but mass education; not the era of child labour but the end of it. New technology can enhance living standards - but it has done so only by reducing family size and spurring greater gender equality. Meanwhile, differing levels of diversity, stemming from patterns of human migration tens of thousands of years ago, have been as powerful in determining the fate of nations as colonialism or geography. How did Europe soar ahead of previously more advanced civilisations such as China and the Ottoman Empire? Why have workers' revolutions succeeded in agricultural but not industrialised nations? How have soil types affected gender relations and coast lines entrepreneurialism? Why are Bolivia's challenges the opposite of Ethiopia's? Is continued growth compatible with tackling the climate crisis? Making astounding connections across continents and millennia, The Journey of Humanity answers all these questions and more in a bold and captivating narrative that reframes our understanding of human history. Its transformative and ultimately hopeful vision contains the keys not only to the thriving of our species but to our survival.

This book provides an introduction to discrete dynamical systems - a framework of analysis that is commonly used in the ?elds of biology, demography, ecology, economics, engineering, ?nance, and physics. The book characterizes the fundamental factors that govern the quantitative and qualitative trajectories of a variety of deterministic, discrete dynamical systems, providing solution methods for systems that can be solved analytically and methods of qualitative analysis for those systems that do not permit or necessitate an explicit solution. The analysis focuses initially on the characterization of the factors that govern the evolution of state variables in the elementary context of one-dimensional, ?rst-order, linear, autonomous systems. The f- damental insights about the forces that a?ect the evolution of these - ementary systems are subsequently generalized, and the determinants of the trajectories of multi-dimensional, nonlinear, higher-order, non- 1 autonomous dynamical systems are established. Chapter 1 focuses on the analysis of the evolution of state variables in one-dimensional, ?rst-order, autonomous systems. It introduces a method of solution for these systems, and it characterizes the traj- tory of a state variable, in relation to a steady-state equilibrium of the system, examining the local and global (asymptotic) stability of this steady-state equilibrium. The ?rst part of the chapter characterizes the factors that determine the existence, uniqueness and stability of a steady-state equilibrium in the elementary context of one-dimensional, ?rst-order, linear autonomous systems.