The aim of this publication is to provide the interested reader with an authoritative and comprehensive up-to-date bibliography on all important facets of the world food problem, encompassing such questions as the availability of natural reseources, the present and future sources of energy, environmental quality, population growth, world malnutrition, the state of food production, food consumption patterns, future food needs, toxicological aspects of food, agricultural and industrial aspects of food production, and family planning. It is the first compilation of its kind in that it covers the subject from a multidisciplinary point of view, including publications that deal with teh description and alaysis of the world food problem as well as those that offer alternative strategies adn specific technological meaures for alleviating the problem.

The science of nutrition has advanced beyond expectation since Antoine La voisier as early as the 18th century showed that oxygen was necessary to change nutrients in foods to compounds which would become a part of the human body. He was also the first to measure metabolism and to show that oxidation within the body produces heat and energy. In the two hundred years that have elapsed, the essentiality of nitrogen-containing nutrients and of proteins for growth and maintenance of tissue has been established; the ne cessity for carbohydrates and certain types of fat for health has been docu mented; vitamins necessary to prevent deficiency diseases have been identified and isolated; and the requirement of many mineral elements for health has been demonstrated. Further investigations have defined the role of these nutrients in metabolic processes and quantitated their requirements at various stages of development. Additional studies have involved their use in the possible prevention of, and therapy for, disease conditions.