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Donella H. Meadows (1941–2001)

Author of Thinking in Systems: A Primer

13+ Works 2,895 Members 42 Reviews 1 Favorited

About the Author

Trained as a biophysicist, American scientist Donella H. Meadows earned a Ph.D. from Harvard University. Early in her career, Meadows was a member of a joint Harvard-MIT research group that developed a computer simulation model clarifying relationships between growth and finite resources on the show more earth. Using this model, the Club of Rome sponsored extensive research that resulted in the best-selling book, "The Limits to Growth" (1972), co-authored by Meadows and others. Attention was focused on a doomsday prognosis if growth continued unchecked. Meadows and her associates, however, presented options for achieving a sustainable society if there were a movement away from dependence on growth, equity in wealth, and if technologies were used to enhance efficiency of natural-resource use. "Toward Global Equilibrium" (1973) and "Dynamics of Growth in a Finite World" (1974) are companion technical volumes to "The Limits to Growth." They present reports on the simulation models, examinations of economic, political, and ethical implications of the findings, and a detailed description of the computer model, World3. In addition to her research sponsored by the Club of Rome, Meadows, as one of the editors of "Groping in the Dark" (1982), fully articulates that basic human needs can be met in the future if social and political structures, as well as values, do not hinder efforts for sustainability and equity. Meadows states that equity, rather than individual and national-wealth aggrandizement, is increasingly recognized as a major factor in planetary survival. Twenty years after "The Limits to Growth," Meadows and others in "Beyond the Limits" (1992) find that some options for a sustainable future have narrowed. However, they claim that new technologies can, if employed wisely, contribute to sustainability. The book emphasizes social-policy options rather than models. After working for two years on the Club of Rome research project, Meadows became a member of the faculty at Dartmouth College where she was systems analyst and adjunct professor in the Environmental Studies Program. Meadows has a lifestyle that reflects her views about sustaining finite resources and valuing equity rather than personal economic gain. She has lived in a commune, studied Zen Buddhism, and believed that people today are ultimately responsible for a future that holds "unspeakable horrors or undreamed-of wonders." She died in 2001 from a bacterial infection. Her titles include Limits to Growth-The 30 year Update, The Electronic Oracle: Computer Models and Social Decisions and Thinking in Systems - A Primer. 30 show less
Disambiguation Notice:

Donella H. Meadows and Dennis L. Meadows are different people. Both were members of the MIT team that produced The Limits to Growth in 1972.

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Works by Donella H. Meadows

Associated Works

Earth '88: Changing Geographic Perspectives (1988) — Contributor — 13 copies

Tagged

Common Knowledge

Other names
Meadows, Dana
Birthdate
1941-03-13
Date of death
2001-02-20
Gender
female
Nationality
USA
Birthplace
Elgin, Illinois, USA
Place of death
Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
Places of residence
Elgin, Illinois, USA (birth)
Education
Carleton College
Harvard University (PhD)
Occupations
environmental scientist
professor
author
columnist
Organizations
Club of Rome
Awards and honors
MacArthur Fellowship (1994)
Pew Marine Fellow (1991)
Short biography
From the Donella Meadows Institute website: Dr. Donella H. Meadows, a Pew Scholar in Conservation and Environment and a MacArthur Fellow, was one of the most influential environmental thinkers of the 20th century. After receiving a Ph.D in biophysics from Harvard, she joined a team at MIT applying the relatively new tools of system dynamics to global problems. She became principal author of The Limits to Growth (1972), which sold more than 9 million copies in 26 languages. She went on to author or co-author eight other books.

For 16 years, Donella wrote a weekly syndicated column called “The Global Citizen,” commenting on world events from a systems point of view. It appeared in more than 20 newspapers, won second place in the 1985 Champion-Tuck national competition for outstanding journalism in the fields of business and economics, received the Walter C. Paine Science Education Award in 1990, and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1991.

In 1996, Donella founded the Sustainability Institute with the mission of fostering transitions to sustainable systems at all levels of society, from local to global. The Institute adopted the name of its founder in 2011 and renewed its commitment to the organization’s original mission and to making Donella’s work easily and broadly accessible.
Disambiguation notice
Donella H. Meadows and Dennis L. Meadows are different people. Both were members of the MIT team that produced The Limits to Growth in 1972.

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Reviews

This is the most important book that I have ever read, but 30 years too late! They established in 1972 that we were heading to exceeding our planets capacity to meet our needs. In 2020 they redid their numbers and established that we had now exceeded that point. We are taking far more and dumping too much beyond what our planet can sustain without catastrophic collapses.
To take two simple but self-evident pointers.World population grows exponentially, each new generation is an increase on the previous and then that increase is further increased by the next generation. Our economic regulating system depends on increased consumerism, if we stop buying we are in recession, if the fail to buy more than last time, we are in recession. Add that to the increasing population, that has to be fed, more mouths to feed, more food to be produced and they need to buy to survive, so more goods needed to made and the outcome is simple. Seen from space our planet is very finite. We take, extract, from our planet to make stuff and we dump back on/in our planet all the waste stuff that is not needed or not wanted or when it is no longer useful.
This book explores all the myriad reasoning's that resources are being depleted, or increasing means to extend them, delays to record or implement recovery, feedback loops and accumulating evidence that our broadly stable and favourable environment is tipping into a chaotic system which is unlikely to be favourable to humans. Balanced by sketching out mechanisms and our skill sets we could use to defer, or slow this progress towards that tipping point.
If you do nothing else, make sure you do read Chapters 7 and 8
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tonysomerset | 8 other reviews | Mar 6, 2024 |
Useful and practical. Nothing really new, but well done.
 
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d.v. | 23 other reviews | May 16, 2023 |
A must read for those who are concerned about what we're leaving for future gens.
 
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btbell_lt | 8 other reviews | Aug 1, 2022 |
This is one of those books that where it was almost useless to highlight valuable statements because I was highlighting multiple things every page. Meadows does not go into the mathematics of systems theory. As the title suggests, she focuses on the key ideas so that the reader learns to think about systems and their common properties.

One of the key takeaways from this book -- if I had to choose just one -- is that systems have common properties that apply regardless of their type. There are ways of thinking about environmental, human, technological, and other systems that show their deep similarities and give insights into their differences.

Overall, this book was readable and should be a required read for anyone who designs or influences systems, big or small.
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eri_kars | 23 other reviews | Jul 10, 2022 |

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Popularity
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Rating
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ISBNs
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