Human adaptability : a history and compendium of research in the International Biological Programme / K.J. Collins and J.S. Weiner.

Date:
1977
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Credit: Human adaptability : a history and compendium of research in the International Biological Programme / K.J. Collins and J.S. Weiner. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    11/376 (page VII)
    PREFACE At the inception of the International Biological Programme in the early 1960s it was recognised that human activities were creating rapid and far-reaching changes in the environment. The concerted study of biological variability and management of natural resources promoted through the l.B.P. was basically designed to examine the functional relationship of living things to their environ¬ ment. In this there was concern both for the needs of man and for greater ecological understanding. It was appropriate therefore that the l.B.P. should include a section (Human Adaptability) devoted to the world-wide comparative study of human ecology and adaptability. The general aims of the H.A. section were to make comprehensive surveys of human adaptability in a wide variety of chmates, terrains and social groups, to increase understanding of the biological basis of adaptation and to apply this knowledge to problems of health and welfare. In order to implement these goals an integrated approach was required utihsing agreed methods drawn from many disciplines in human biology. During the operational phase of the programme, populations ranging from primitive rural groups to highly organized industrial communities were studied on every continent by intensive multidisciplinary and regional projects. After a decade (1964-1974) of biological research on a world-wide scale, the results of l.B.P. national and international studies are being brought together in a series of l.B.P. Synthesis Volumes. The first of these was published in 1975 (Cambridge University Press) and further volumes in the series are in preparation. Five of these volumes are concerned specifically with the H.A. Section: Biology of Circumpolar Peoples (ed. F. A. Milan); Biology of High Altitude Peoples (ed. P. T. Baker); World-wide Variations in Human Growth (eds. P. B. Eveleth and J. M. Tanner); Components of Human Physiological Function (ed. J. S. Weiner); and Components of Human Population Structure (ed. G. A. Harrison). The present Compendium is intended to serve as an introduction and companion volume to the H.A. synthesis series. It is divided into two parts, the first provides an account of the history and organization of the Section, and the second summarises and catalogues the research projects which have contributed to the Human Adaptability programme of the l.B.P. We have provided a substantial body of quite detailed information on the organizational history of the section so that any future com¬ parable endeavour may benefit from our experience. In the preparation of this Compendium we acknowledge with gratitude the financial support of UNESCO, the considerable secretarial assistance given by Doris Ainsworth and Mrs. M. Strong, and the administrative help given by Gina Douglas and Sue Darrell-Brown of the l.B.P. Office. Our thanks are also due to Mr. S. A. Lewis for his expert supervision during the various stages of publication. Finally, we would like to express our gratitude to the Scientific Director of I.B.P., Dr. Barton Worthington, C.M.G., for all his assistance during the years of l.B.P, M.R.C. Environmental Physiology Unit, K.J.C. London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. J.S.W. • • vu