Human Population Dynamics: With Applications To The U.S. 1790-2000

At the atomic level of the population is the family. It is the arena into which the new born is ushered into the population, as a result of an operation involving two adult parents. The new born, and other children and other adult members of the family, depend upon the parents for the maintenance of life. The transit of the new born from birth into the cradle of its family's maintenance operations, through a web of intricate social entanglements, to participate in population formation, is the stuff of which a population is made. Before the new born starts its journey, one more essential condition is imposed on its behavior along the way. It is not the only birth taking place during the Current Year. It is one among many born to other parents in the population that year. These births play a special role, indicated by the fact that their specific year of birth, the Current Year, the most recent year of formation of the population, is also the year of birth for the population as a whole. This signal event is celebrated by encasing all the births of a given Current Year into a Quantum Cocoon. This keeps them forever united as one sub- atomic particle, composed of all births of the same year, giving it (and its constituent birth cohorts) a unique identity, while on the journey to population formation, and later as an integral part of the population membership.