Combining historical geography with historical demography, and conceived as a study in environmental history, this book examines the long-term relationship between population, economy and environment in the northern half of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. Using a rich variety of Dutch historical sources, including VOC and missionary archives, it attempts to reconstruct and analyse patterns of demographic, economic and landscape change throughout this large and ecologically diverse region over a period of almost three and a half centuries. Particular attention is given to the articulation between demographic and economic growth, to levels and determinants of reproductive fertility, to changing disease environments, and to the question of agricultural sustainability and its preconditions. The results call into question some common views regarding the reasons for low population growth, and the relationship between population density and landscape change, in the Southeast Asian past.

The Will to Improve is a remarkable account of development in action. Focusing on attempts to improve landscapes and livelihoods in Indonesia, Tania Murray Li carefully exposes the practices that enable experts to diagnose problems and devise interventions, and the agency of people whose conduct is targeted for reform. Deftly integrating theory, ethnography, and history, she illuminates the work of colonial officials and missionaries; specialists in agriculture, hygiene, and credit; and political activists with their own schemes for guiding villagers toward better ways of life. She examines donor-funded initiatives that seek to integrate conservation with development through the participation of communities, and a one-billion-dollar program designed by the World Bank to optimize the social capital of villagers, inculcate new habits of competition and choice, and remake society from the bottom up. Demonstrating that the “will to improve” has a long and troubled history, Li identifies enduring continuities from the colonial period to the present. She explores the tools experts have used to set the conditions for reform—tools that combine the reshaping of desires with applications of force. Attending in detail to the highlands of Sulawesi, she shows how a series of interventions entangled with one another and tracks their results, ranging from wealth to famine, from compliance to political mobilization, and from new solidarities to oppositional identities and violent attack. The Will to Improve is an engaging read—conceptually innovative, empirically rich, and alive with the actions and reflections of the targets of improvement, people with their own critical analyses of the problems that beset them.

Scholars have long assumed that Spanish colonial rule had only a limited demographic impact on the Philippines. Filipinos, they believed, had acquired immunity to Old World diseases prior to Spanish arrival; conquest was thought to have been more benign than what took place in the Americas because of more enlightened colonial policies introduced by Philip II. Conquest and Pestilence in the Early Spanish Philippines illuminates the demographic history of the Spanish Philippines in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and, in the process, challenges these assumptions. In this provocative new work, Linda Newson convincingly demonstrates that the Filipino population suffered a significant decline in the early colonial period. Newson argues that the sparse population of the islands meant that Old World diseases could not become endemic in pre-Spanish times. She also shows that the initial conquest of the Philippines was far bloodier than has often been supposed and that subsequent Spanish demands for tribute, labor, and land brought socioeconomic transformations and depopulation that were prolonged beyond the early conquest years. Comparisons are made with the impact of Spanish colonial rule in the Americas. Newson adopts a regional approach and examines critically each major area in Luzon and the Visayas in turn. Building on a wide range of primary and secondary sources, she proposes a new estimate for the population of the Visayas and Luzon of 1.57 million in 1565—slightly higher than that suggested by previous studies—and calculates that by the mid-seventeenth century this figure may have fallen by about two-thirds. Based on extensive archival research conducted in secular and missionary archives in the Philippines, Spain, and elsewhere, Conquest and Pestilence in the Early Spanish Philippines is an exemplary contribution to our understanding of the formative influences on demographic change in premodern Southeast Asian society and the history of the early Spanish Philippines.

Zita West, midwife to Cate Blanchett, Stella McCartney and Kate Winslet, shares her expertise in nutrition to help you and your baby stay healthy naturally throughout your pregnancy. It is crucial to eat an optimum diet during pregnancy. Your levels of nutrients need to be high in order to support you through the process of pregnancy, and the baby that you’re carrying inside of you needs the full range of nutrients to be as healthy as possible. It can be difficult and tiring to make nutrient-filled meals, but Zita gives you clear information and simple, easy-to-make recipes. The first section of the book covers details such as what nutrients are important and what they do for you and your baby, and foods that are unhealthy to consume during pregnancy. The second section uses the vitamins and nutrients explained in the first section in 80 delicious recipes. Introduction Your Health (nutrients your body needs as it changes, sources of these nutrients, foods that help with the side effects of pregnancy, the importance of safe exercise) Your Baby’s Health (nutrients your baby needs to grow, what they do, sources of these nutrients) What to Avoid (foods not to eat why they are bad for you and your baby) Breakfasts Light Meals Snacks and Treats Main Meals Desserts.

Approximately £500m per year is spent in the UK on assisted conception techniques such as IVF by couples who do not know that their diet could be affecting their fertility. Men and women who are stigmatised as 'infertile' or told they are too old to have a baby feel betrayed by their own bodies yet, according to Sarah Dobbyn, biological age and chronological age do not have to coincide. If your body believes you are young and healthy enough to have a baby, no matter how old you are, you will be able to conceive a child - and easily. Not only this, but a healthy diet that eschews 'contraceptive foods' can enhance libido and delay the onset of the menopause. With chapters on fertility power foods, supplements and drinks, enhancing male fertility and avoiding miscarriage, The Fertility Dietwill tell readers everything they need to know about staying as young, fertile and sexually charged for as long as possible. With delicious recipes and a Fertility Action Plan at the end of each chapter, the book sets out suggestions for immediate steps you can take today to maximise your chances of conceiving the old-fashioned way.

Dr. Jeremy Groll is an expert in reproductive endocrinology and fertility treatment. Fertility Foods presents his groundbreaking, noninvasive, nutritionally based method, which increases ovulation, reduces miscarriage, and significantly improves your chances of successfully getting and staying pregnant. Dr. Groll's specialized research has proven that there is a powerful link between a body's insulin resistance and fertility problems. Resistance to insulin increases the body's insulin levels, hindering normal ovulation either by limiting the maturation process of the released egg or by preventing ovulation altogether. High insulin levels can also impede the fertilized egg's ability to attach to the uterus, leading to implantation failure and miscarriage. In fact, women with insulin resistance problems are four to five times as likely as other women to suffer miscarriages -- meaning they have as high as a 50 percent chance of miscarriage. Dr. Groll has developed an insulin-reducing diet based on balancing protein and complex carbohydrate intake to create insulin levels most conducive to ovulation. He combines his nutritional plan -- which includes nutritional charts, food suggestions, and recipes -- with a specific exercise program that enhances insulin metabolism and an emotional support system that you can draw on during your quest to become parents. This three-pronged approach increases the rates of spontaneous ovulation and significantly improves the uterine environment, decreasing the potential for miscarriage. One in every ten couples in America is affected by infertility. Yet, only 5 to 10 percent of patients actually need high-tech procedures such as in vitro fertilization. Whether you are taking your first steps in combating infertility or searching for effective methods to support more advanced fertility treatments, Fertility Foods is your helpful and rewarding guide.

A keyword listing of serial titles currently received by the National Library of Medicine.