Is a population explosion really overwhelming the planet? Frances Moore Lappe and Rachel Schurman examine the social and economic causes which affect fertility and choices about reproduction. In seeking solutions to the population problem, they show how for many people large families provide the only form of security; they look at the Third World countries which have successfully reduced fertility rates by giving women, in particular, financial and social alternatives to child-bearing. If we are to take population seriously we must stop thinking simply in terms of controlling births and deal with the causes of the opoulation explosion. This is the only way the missing piece can be fitted into the population puzzle.