Aurelio Peccei

Aurelio Peccei was born in a dynamic decade. At the beginning of the 20th century man had conquered the air with planes and zeppelins and the first European capitals had constructed metro lines. There was the spirit of progress in the heart and minds of people and it was not until 1972, when "Limits to Growth" was published as the first report to the Club of Rome, that a public discussion started on the question as to whether mankind was moving towards a disaster even in the absence of unrest and war.

Peccei started his career in industry, so he was at the heart of the progress of that time. But in contrast to others who followed a similar path, he looked beyond his everyday business and became concerned about the future.

By accident, Aurelio Peccei met a scientist, Alexander King, who shared his thoughts. They invited a group of people for a discussion in Rome which finally resulted in the founding of the "Club of Rome".

The Club of Rome decided to use a scientific approach in order to find out, which scenarios were possible for the future. Donnella Meadows, Dennis Meadows and Jorgen Randers were three young researchers at MIT who developed a mathematical world model. The scenarios showed clearly that if we continue "business as usual" we will end in a disaster. The result was published as "Limits to Growth", a book which was translated to more than 30 languages.