In April of 1968, 30 people, including scientists, educators, economists, humanists, industrialists, and government officials, met at the Academia dei Lincei in Rome. The meeting was called by Dr. Aurelio Peccei, an Italian industrialist and economist. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss "the present and future predicament of man." The "Club of Rome" was born from this meeting as an informal organization that has been described as an "invisible college." Its purpose, as described by Donella Meadows, is to foster understanding of the varied but interdependent components—economic, political, natural and social—that make up the global system in which we all live; to bring that new understanding to the attention of policy-makers and the public worldwide; and in this way to promote new policy initiatives and action. The original list of members is listed in the preface to Meadows's book entitled The Limits...