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Authors: Matt Ridley

The Rational Optimist (55 page)

BOOK: The Rational Optimist
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  • Dalkon Shield (contraceptive device) 203
  • Dalton, John 221
  • Damascus 127
  • Damerham, Wiltshire 194
  • Danube, River 128, 132
  • Darby, Abraham 407
  • Darfur 302, 353
  • Dark Ages 164, 175–6, 215
  • Darwin, Charles 77, 81, 91–2, 105, 116, 350, 415
  • Darwin, Erasmus 256
  • Darwinism 5
  • Davy, Sir Humphry 221, 412
  • Dawkins, Richard 5, 51
  • DDT (pesticide) 297–8, 299
  • de Geer, Louis 184
  • de Soto, Hernando 323, 324, 325
  • de Waal, Frans 88
  • Dean, James 110
  • decimal system 173, 178
  • deer 32–3, 122
  • deflation 24
  • Defoe, Daniel 224
  • deforestation, predictions of 304–5, 339
  • Delhi 189
  • Dell (corporation) 268
  • Dell, Michael 264
  • demographic transition 206–212, 316, 328, 402
  • Denmark 200, 344, 366; National Academy of Sciences 280
  • Dennett, Dan 350
  • dentistry 45
  • depression (psychological) 8, 156
  • depressions (economic) 3, 31, 32, 186–7, 192, 289;
    see also
    economic crashes
  • deserts, expanding 28, 280
  • Detroit 315, 355
  • Dhaka 189
  • diabetes 156, 274, 306
  • Diamond, Jared 293–4, 380
  • diamonds 320, 322
  • Dickens, Charles 220
  • Diesel, Rudolf 146
  • Digital Equipment Corporation 260, 282
  • digital photography 114, 386
  • Dimawe, battle of (1852) 321
  • Diocletian, Roman emperor 175, 184
  • Diodorus 169
  • diprotodons 69
  • discount merchandising 112–14
  • division of labour: Adam Smith on vii, 80; and catallaxy 56; and fragmented government 172; in insects 75–6, 87–8; and population growth 211; by sex 61–5, 136, 376; and specialisation 7, 33, 38, 46, 61, 76–7, 175; among strangers and enemies 87–9; and trust 100; and urbanisation 164
  • DNA: forensic use 20; gene transfer 153
  • dogs 43, 56, 61, 84, 125
  • Doll, Richard 298
  • Dolphin
    , HMS 169
  • dolphins 3, 87
  • Domesday Book 215
  • Doriot, Georges 261
  • ‘dot-communism’ 356
  • Dover Castle 197
  • droughts: modern 241, 300, 334; prehistoric 54, 65, 334
  • drug crime 106, 186
  • DuPont (corporation) 31
  • dyes 167, 225, 257, 263
  • dynamos 217, 233–4, 271–2, 289
  • dysentery 157, 353

 

  • eagles 17, 239, 299, 409
  • East India Company 225, 226
  • Easter Island 380
  • Easterbrook, Greg 294, 300, 370
  • Easterlin, Richard 26
  • Easterly, William 318, 411
  • eBay (corporation) 21, 99, 100, 114, 115
  • Ebla, Syria 164
  • Ebola virus 307
  • economic booms 9, 29, 216
  • economic crashes 7–8, 9, 193; credit crunch (2008) 8–10, 28–9, 31, 100, 102, 316, 355, 399, 411;
    see also
    depressions (economic)
  • ecosystems, dynamism of 250–51, 303, 410
  • Ecuador 87
  • Edinburgh Review
    285
  • Edison, Thomas 234, 246, 272, 412
  • education: Africa 320; Japan 16; measuring value of 117; and population control 209, 210; universal access 106, 235; women and 209, 210
  • Edwards, Robert 306
  • Eemian interglacial period 52–3
  • Egypt: ancient 161, 166, 167, 170, 171, 192, 193, 197, 270, 334; Mamluk 182; modern 142, 154, 192, 301, 323; prehistoric 44, 45, 125, 126; Roman 174, 175, 178
  • Ehrenreich, Barbara 291
  • Ehrlich, Anne 203, 301–2
  • Ehrlich, Paul 143, 190, 203, 207, 301–2, 303
  • electric motors 271–2, 283
  • electricity 233–5, 236, 237, 245–6, 337, 343–4; costs 23; dynamos 217, 233–4, 271–2, 289
  • elephants 51, 54, 69, 303, 321
  • Eliot, T.S. 289
  • email 292
  • emigration 199–200, 202;
    see also
    migrations empathy 94–8
  • empires, trading 160–61;
    see also
    imperialism enclosure acts 226, 323, 406
  • endocrine disruptors 293
  • Engels, Friedrich 107–8, 136
  • England: agriculture 194–6, 215; infant mortality 284; law 118; life expectancy 13, 284; medieval population 194–7; per capita income 196; scientific revolution 255–7; trade 75, 89, 104, 106, 118, 169, 194;
    see also
    Britain
  • Enron (corporation) 29, 111, 385
  • Erie, Lake 17
  • Erie Canal 139, 283
  • ethanol 240–42, 300
  • Ethiopia 14, 316, 319; prehistoric 52, 53, 129
  • eugenics 288, 329
  • Euphrates river 127, 158, 161, 167, 177
  • evolution, biological 5, 6, 7, 49–50, 55–6, 75, 271, 350
  • Ewald, Paul 309
  • exchange: etiquette and ritual of 133–4; and innovation 71–2, 76, 119, 167–8, 251, 269–74; and pre-industrial economies 133–4; and property rights 324–5; and rule of law 116, 117–18; and sexual division of labour 65; and specialisation 7, 10, 33, 35, 37–8, 46, 56, 58, 75, 90, 132–3, 350–52, 355, 358–9; and trust 98–100, 103, 104; as unique human trait 56–60; and virtue 100–104;
    see also
    bartering; markets; trade
  • executions 104
  • extinctions 17, 43, 64, 68, 69–70, 243, 293, 302, 338–9
  • Exxon (corporation) 111, 115
  • eye colour 129
  • Ezekiel 167, 168

 

  • Facebook (website) 262, 268, 356
  • factories 160, 214, 218, 219–20, 221, 223, 256, 258–9, 284–5
  • falcons 299
  • family formation 195, 209–210, 211, 227
  • famines: modern 141, 143, 154, 199, 203, 302; pessimism about 280, 281, 284, 290, 300–302, 314; pre-industrial 45, 139, 195, 197
  • Faraday, Michael 271–2
  • Fargione, Joseph 242
  • farming: battery 104, 145–6; free-range 146, 308; intensive 143–9; organic 147, 149–52, 393; slash-and-burn 87, 129, 130; subsidies 188, 328; subsistence 87, 138, 175–6, 189, 192, 199–200;
    see also
    agriculture; food supply
  • fascism 289
  • Fauchart, Emmanuelle 264
  • fax machines 252
  • Feering, Essex 195
  • Fehr, Ernst 94–6
  • female emancipation 107, 108–9, 209
  • feminism 109
  • Ferguson, Adam 1
  • Ferguson, Niall 85
  • Fermat’s Last Theorem 275
  • fermenting 130, 241
  • Ferranti, Sebastian de 234
  • Fertile Crescent 126, 251
  • fertilisation, in-vitro 306
  • fertilisers 32, 129, 135, 139–41, 142, 143, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149–50, 152, 155, 200, 337
  • Fibonacci 178
  • figs 125, 129
  • filariasis 310
  • Finland 15, 35, 261
  • fire, invention of 4, 50, 51, 52, 60, 274
  • First World War 289, 309
  • fish, sex-change 280, 293
  • fish farming 148, 155
  • fishing 62, 63–4, 71, 78–9, 81–2, 125, 127, 129, 136, 159, 162, 163, 327
  • Fishman, Charles 113
  • Flanders 179, 181, 194
  • flight, powered 257, 261, 264, 266
  • Flinders Island 81, 84
  • floods 128, 250, 329, 331, 334, 335, 426
  • Florence 89, 103, 115, 178
  • flowers, cut 42, 327, 328
  • flu, pandemic 28, 145–6, 308–310
  • Flynn, James 19
  • Fontaine, Hippolyte 233–4
  • food aid 28, 141, 154, 203
  • food miles 41–2, 353, 392;
    see also
    local sourcing
  • food preservation 139, 145, 258
  • food prices 20, 22, 23, 34, 39, 40, 42, 240, 241, 300
  • food processing 29–30, 60–61, 145;
    see also
    baking; cooking
  • food retailing 36, 112, 148, 268;
    see also
    supermarkets
  • food sharing 56, 59–60, 64
  • food supply: and biofuels 240–41, 243, 300; and climate change 337–8; and industrialisation 139, 201–2; pessimism about 280, 281, 284, 290, 300–302; and population growth 139, 141, 143–4, 146–7, 192, 206, 208–9, 300–302
  • Ford, Ford Maddox 188
  • Ford, Henry 24, 114, 189, 271
  • Forester, Jay 303
  • forests, fears of depletion 304–5, 339
  • fossil fuels: and ecology 237, 240, 304, 315, 342–3, 345–6; fertilisers 143, 150, 155, 237; and industrialisation 214, 216–17, 229–33, 352; and labour saving 236–7; and productivity 244–5; supplies 216–17, 229–30, 237–8, 245, 302–3;
    see also
    charcoal; coal; gas, natural; oil; peat
  • Fourier analysis 283
  • FOXP2 (gene) 55, 375
  • fragmentation, political 170–73, 180–81, 184, 185
  • France: capital markets 259; famine 197; infant mortality 16; population growth 206, 208; revolution 324; trade 184, 186, 222
  • Franco, Francisco 186
  • Frank, Robert 95–6
  • Franken, Al 291
  • Franklin, Benjamin 107, 256
  • Franks 176
  • Fray Bentos 186
  • free choice 27–8, 107–110, 291–2
  • free-range farming 146, 308
  • French Revolution 324
  • Friedel, Robert 224
  • Friedman, Milton 111
  • Friend, Sir Richard 257
  • Friends of the Earth 154, 155
  • Fry, Art 261
  • Fuji (corporation) 114, 386
  • Fujian, China 89, 183
  • fur trade 169, 180
  • futurology 354–5

 

  • Gadir (Cadiz) 168–9, 170
  • Gaelic language 129
  • Galbraith, J.K. 16
  • Galdikas, Birute 60
  • Galilee, Sea of 124
  • Galileo 115
  • Gandhi, Indira 203, 204
  • Gandhi, Sanjay 203–4
  • Ganges, River 147, 172
  • gas, natural 235, 236, 237, 240, 302, 303, 337
  • Gates, Bill 106, 264, 268
  • GDP per capita (world), increases in 11, 349
  • Genentech (corporation) 259, 405
  • General Electric Company 261, 264
  • General Motors (corporation) 115
  • generosity 86–7, 94–5
  • genetic research 54, 151, 265, 306–7, 310, 356, 358
  • genetically modified (GM) crops 28, 32, 148, 151–6, 283, 358
  • Genghis Khan 182
  • Genoa 89, 169, 178, 180
  • genome sequencing 265
  • geothermal power 246, 344
  • Germany: Great Depression (1930s) 31; industrialisation 202; infant mortality 16; Nazism 109, 289; population growth 202; predicted deforestation 304, 305; prehistoric 70, 138; trade 179–80, 187;
    see also
    West Germany
  • Ghana 187, 189, 316, 326
  • Gibraltar, Strait of 180
  • gift giving 87, 92, 133, 134
  • Gilbert, Daniel 4
  • Gilgamesh, King 159
  • Ginsberg, Allen 110
  • Gintis, Herb 86
  • Gladstone, William 237
  • Glaeser, Edward 190
  • Glasgow 315
  • glass 166, 174–5, 177, 259
  • glass fibre 303
  • Global Humanitarian Forum 337
  • global warming
    see
    climate change globalisation 290, 358
  • ‘glorious revolution’ (1688) 223
  • GM (genetically modified) crops 28, 148, 151–6, 283, 358
  • goats 122, 126, 144, 145, 197, 320
  • Goethe, Johann von 104
  • Goklany, Indur 143–4, 341, 426
  • gold 165, 177, 303
  • golden eagles 239, 409
  • golden toads 338
  • Goldsmith, Edward 291
  • Google (corporation) 21, 100, 114, 259, 260, 268, 355
  • Gore, Al 233, 291
  • Goths 175
  • Gott, Richard 294
  • Gramme, Zénobe Théophile 233–4
  • Grantham, George 401
  • gravity, discovery of 258
  • Gray, John 285, 291
  • Great Barrier Reef 250
  • Greece: ancient 115, 128, 161, 170–71, 173–4; modern 186
  • greenhouse gases 152, 155, 242, 329;
    see also
    carbon dioxide emissions
  • Greenland: ice cap 125, 130, 313, 334, 339, 426; Inuits 61; Norse 380
  • Greenpeace 154, 155, 281, 385
  • Grottes des Pigeons, Morocco 53
  • Groves, Leslie 412
  • Growth is Good for the Poor
    (World Bank study) 317
  • guano 139–40, 302
  • Guatemala 209
  • Gujarat 162, 174
  • Gujaratis 89
  • Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden 184
  • Gutenberg, Johann 184, 253
  • Guth, Werner 86

 

  • habeas corpus 358
  • Haber, Fritz 140, 412
  • Hadza people 61, 63, 87
  • Haiti 14, 301, 315
  • Halaf people 130
  • Hall, Charles Martin 24
  • Halley, Edmond 256
  • HANPP (human appropriation of net primary productivity) number 144–5
  • Hanseatic merchants 89, 179–80, 196
  • Hansen, James 426
  • hanta virus 307
  • happiness 25–8, 191
  • Harappa, Indus valley 161–2
  • Hardin, Garrett 203
  • harems 136
  • Hargreaves, James 227, 256
  • Harlem, Holland 215–16
  • Harper’s Weekly
    23
  • Harvey, William 256
  • hay 214–15, 216, 239, 408–9
  • Hayek, Friedrich 5, 19, 38, 56, 250, 280, 355
  • heart disease 18, 156, 295
  • ‘hedonic treadmill’ 27
  • height, average human 16, 18
  • Heller, Michael 265–6
  • Hellespont 128, 170
  • Henrich, Joe 77, 377
  • Henry II, King of England 118
  • Henry, Joseph 271, 272
  • Henry, William 221
  • Heraclitus 251
  • herbicides 145, 152, 153–4
  • herding 130–31
  • Hero of Alexandria 270
  • Herschel, Sir William 221
  • Hesiod 292
  • Hippel, Eric von 273
  • hippies 26, 110, 175
  • Hiroshima 283
  • Hitler, Adolf 16, 184, 296
  • Hittites 166, 167
  • HIV/AIDS 8, 14, 307–8, 310, 316, 319, 320, 322, 331, 353
  • Hiwi people 61
  • Hobbes, Thomas 96
  • Hock, Dee 254
  • Hohle Fels, Germany 70
  • Holdren, John 203, 207, 311
  • Holland: agriculture 153; golden age 185, 201, 215–16, 223; horticulture 42; industrialisation 215–16, 226; innovations 264; trade 31, 89, 104, 106, 185, 223, 328
  • Holy Roman Empire 178, 265–6
  • Homer 2, 102, 168
  • Homestead Act (1862) 323
  • homicide 14, 20, 85, 88, 106, 118, 201
  • Homo erectus
    49, 68, 71, 373
  • Homo heidelbergensis
    49, 50–52, 373
  • Homo sapiens
    , emergence of 52–3
  • Hong Kong 31, 83, 158, 169, 187, 219, 328
  • Hongwu, Chinese emperor 183
  • Hood, Leroy 222, 405
  • Hooke, Robert 256
  • horses 48, 68, 69, 129, 140, 197, 215, 282, 408–9; shoes and harnesses 176, 215
  • housing costs 20, 25, 34, 39–40, 234, 368
  • Hoxha, Enver 187
  • Hrdy, Sarah 88
  • Huber, Peter 244, 344
  • Hueper, Wilhelm 297
  • Huguenots 184
  • Huia (birds) 64
  • human sacrifice 104
  • Hume, David 96, 103, 104, 170
  • humour 2
  • Hunan 177
  • Hungary 222
  • Huns 175
  • hunter-gatherers: consumption and production patterns 29–30, 123; division of labour 61–5, 76, 136; famines 45, 139; limitations of band size 77; modern societies 66–7, 76, 77–8, 80, 87, 135–6, 136–7; nomadism 130; nostalgia for life of 43–5, 135, 137; permanent settlements 128; processing of food 29, 38, 61; technological regress 78–84; trade 72, 77–8, 81, 92–3, 123, 136–7; violence and warfare 27, 44–5, 136, 137
  • hunting 61–4, 68–70, 125–6, 130, 339
  • Huron Indians 138–9
  • hurricanes 329, 335, 337
  • Hurst, Blake 152
  • Hutterites 211
  • Huxley, Aldous 289, 354
  • hydroelectric power 236, 239, 343, 344, 409
  • hyenas 43, 50, 54
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