Taking a macrosociological, global approach, Human Societies offers an introduction to sociology that is truly comparative, cross-cultural, and historical. It compares societies over time and across environments, emphasizing the dynamics of social change. Its clearly developed ecological-evolutionary perspective provides a powerful theoretical framework for understanding the array of social arrangements found in human societies over the past 100,000 years. Since industrial societies are encountered only after this theoretical base has been firmly established and older, simpler, and smaller societies have been examined in detail, students see their own society (and other contemporary societies) in a broader and more meaningful way. By showing how social arrangements are related to the environmental and technological context societies are situated in, Human Societies encourages students to look for the reasons why social arrangements are the way they are, and why they change over time.New to this Edition* Two new readings: The New Population Bomb: The Four Megatrends That Will Change The World, by Jack A. Goldstone, and Disaster Watch, by Joel A. Cohen (New readings are coupled with assignments and questions for classroom discussion, paper topics, and focus groups)* A new Teaching and Learning Supplement on the future--the supplement includes an introduction that explains how teachers and students can use the long-term conceptual tools introduced in Human Societies to assess future world developments in demography, culture, politics, economies, and even on such specific topics as terrorism Read Less