Book, lecture address 'greatest shortcoming of human race'

What is the greatest shortcoming of the human race?

A new book, published by the Center for Science, Mathematics and Computer Education at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, attempts to provide an answer to that question.

In the book "The Essential Exponential! For the Future of Our Planet," Albert A. Bartlett, professor emeritus of physics at the University of Colorado, claims that the greatest shortcoming of the human race is its inability to understand the exponential function - that is, the impossibility of constant rates of growth on a finite planet. The book is a collection of Bartlett's papers to that effect and is to be sold in combination with a DVD of his presentation, "Arithmetic, Population and Energy," that was recorded in 2002.

Bartlett will be in Omaha Oct. 8 and 9 for a book and DVD signing and for a public lecture, "Arithmetic, Population and Energy - Sustainability 101," which he has given more than 1,500 times since 1976 when he spoke to a group of physics teachers in Omaha.

The book signing will be at The Bookworm bookstore, 8702 Pacific St., from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 8. The lecture will begin at 10 a.m. Oct. 9 in the lecture hall theater at Westside High School, 8701 Pacific St. Both events are free and open to the public.

For additional information, call the Center for Science, Mathematics and Computer Education at (402) 472-8965 or visit its Web site.

CONTACT: Robert Fuller, Professor, Physics & Astronomy, (402) 472-8684