This book which had its origins in a series of lectures on the "History of Science" planned by the editors in 1970 and in the enormous response to our article "Mineral Resource Supplies and the Limits to Economic Growth" published in Earth-Science Review in 1972 is an attempt to present an assessment of some of the issues in the growing debate about whether there is an impending global shortage of mineral resources and whether technology and exploration can meet the needs of a rapidly growing rate of mineral consumption in the world. In choosing to bring together contributors who are specialists in the various fields of minerals resources we hope to avoid the glossy, popular approach which has increasingly surrounded the debate and to provide scientific and technical appraisals of the various fields which will determine the future of world mineral supplies. We agree with the conclusions of Peter Flawn that those who ". . . proceeding from analysis of seawater or average granite, triumphantly calculate the enormous quantities of various elements contained in a cubic mile of seawater or granite" are taking ". . . a wholly frivolous and misleading approach which contributes only a false sense of well being and cannot with stand a thoughtful probe of the problem" (P. T. Flawn, Mineral Resources, Rand McNally, New York,1966, p. 356). In trying to asses the present and future of mineral demand and supply we have compiled chapters written by people who we believe are competent to comment on the various aspects of the problems. These people were selected for their special knowledge, and not because they support the thesis we presented in Earth-Science Reviews; indeed, we had no prior knowledge of their personal views, and editorial instructions to each contributor only specified that they write a quiet, sober appraisal of the problem from their own point of view. Therefore it is perhaps surprising thst there is general unanimity in the book. We believe that this is a hopeful sign; if economists, a geochemist, a geophysicist, a geographer, economic and mining geologists, a mining engineer, and a mineral technologist from such diverse professional bodies as the U.S. Geological Survey, the Unite Nations, the Canadian Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, and various universities in North America and the U.K. can agree on the general problem and its solution, then it should be possible for the world to solve at least the technical problems of mineral resource supplies. The most hopeful parts of the book are those dealing with technology. This reflects our own intuitive feeling that, while the present is dominated by the geologist in his search for few ore deposits and the conservationist in his attempts to reduce consumption and better plan the use of known resources, the future will be shaped by the technologist and his success in devising new means of mining and processing both conventional and nonconventional sources of minerals.

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