Author, journalist, and professor, Alan Weisman tackles the big issue of global population growth in his newest book. His travels to dozens of countries in pursuit of answers led him to one x-factor that he believes holds the key to a sustainable future. From climate change, to energy, to agriculture, population is the reality that transcends all other issues. As Weisman puts it, everyone “is addicted to energy and food,” and more people equals resources stretched beyond capacity. His thoughts on the problem and a powerful possible solution are the focus of this edition of CONTEXT.

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Alan Weisman has worked on seven continents and in more than 50 countries. He is the author of six books; his most recent, Countdown: Our Last, Best Hope for a Future on Earth?, is now available in 13 foreign language editions. Countdown (Little, Brown and Co., 2013) was awarded the 2014 Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the 2013 Paris Book Festival Prize for nonfiction, the 2014 Nautilus Gold Book Award, the Population Institute’s 2014 Global Media Award for best book, and was a finalist for the Orion Book Award and the Books for a Better Life Award. Booklist called Countdown “a riveting read… a major book… rigorous and provoking.” Alan’s previous book, The World Without Us (Thomas Dunne Books, 2007), was a New York Times and international bestseller, and a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Orion Book Award, the Rachel Carson Prize, the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize, and winner of the National Library of China’s Wenjin Book Prize. It was named the top nonfiction book of 2007 by TIME, Entertainment Weekly, and Canada’s National Post, and has been translated into 34 languages.