8. The explosion and concentration of the world's population (throughout the
1900's)

The world's population was five times as large by the end of the 1900's as it was just 150 years ago, and it is projected to double in the next 50 years. This growth is concentrated in the less economically developed parts of the world. There is also a strong worldwide tendency for populations to concentrate in urban centers. As a result of this trend, the countryside became depopulated and cities swelled.

 

Ivan Soll is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His Top 10 list also focuses on large-scale, far-reaching developments. He sounds a note of caution based on rapid world population growth and technological development, referring to our "tendency to pollute, or otherwise destroy without using, the very resources we so desperately need."

1.

Advances in physical theory (early 1900's)

2. The development of nuclear energy (mid-1900's)
3. The rise of the Information Age (middle to late 1900's)
4.

The worldwide revolution in transportation (throughout the 1900's)

5. The development of antibiotics and other medical therapies (mid-1900's)
6. The development of genetics and molecular biology (mid-1900's)
7. The rise and fall of Communism in Europe (1917-1990's)
8. The explosion and concentration of the world's population (throughout the 1900's)
9. The depletion and pollution of the world's resources (middle to late 1900's)
10. The impact of globalization (middle to late 1900's)