Professor Emeritus Albert Bartlett of the University of Colorado at Boulder physics department will give his classic lecture on "Arithmetic, Population and Energy: Sustainability 101" on Saturday, Jan. 21.
His talk, part of the physics department's monthly Saturday Physics Series, will begin at 2 p.m. in Duane Physics room G1B30 on the CU-Boulder campus.
Bartlett created the talk in 1969 to explain the arithmetic of steady growth and to alert the public to the consequences of a steadily growing human population. He also wanted to draw attention to the steadily growing rates of consumption of nonrenewable resources like petroleum.
His overall message is that population growth and growth in the rates of consumption of resources cannot be sustained. He presents examples of how the steady growth of the human population affects everything from natural resources to the ability to have a democracy.
When it comes to the growth of the human population, Bartlett believes we have missed the warning, and if humans don't solve the problem, nature will. In
fact, he usually begins his talk with these words: "The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function."
Bartlett joined the CU-Boulder faculty in 1950. Since his first presentation in 1969, he has given the talk an estimated 1,575 times throughout the United States and Canada.
For more information about the Saturday Physics Series call (303) 492-6952.