DOMINIC W. MASSARO, editor
University of California, Santa Cruz

The Revolution Is Coming: Will Psychology Be Ready?

Psychology and the Aging Revolution: How We Adapt to a Longer Life
Edited by Sara Honn Qualls and Norman Abeles. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2000. 313 pp. Cloth, $39.95.

The title of this book, Psychology and the Aging Revolution, proclaims the undeniable fact that our population is aging. Figures from the 2000 U.S. Census convincingly portray the graying of America. The number of Americans 65 and older has grown steadily from 3.1 million in 1900 (about 4% of the population) to close to 35 million as of the 2000 U.S. Census (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2001). This number is 12.4% of the total U.S. population. Projections are that the number of older Americans will nearly double to 69.4 million by the year 2030, when they will amount to about 20% of the total U.S. population. The aging of the population is occurring at the global level as well. As of the year 2000, the number of people over 60 years of age living in the world is estimated to be 606 million, representing about 8% of the total world population (United Nations 2001).