This is a podcast from the archives of the BBC Ruth Lectures. This lecture in the series

Bursting at the Seams, given by Geoffrey Sacks, was originally broadcast in 2007.

Hello and welcome to the Royal Society in London, a place where since its foundation in 1660,

great minds have gathered to discuss the important scientific

issues of the day. It's a fitting place to introduce this year's Reith Lecturer, a man who

believes we need a new enlightenment to solve many of the world's problems. The American press

has hailed him as one of the world's most influential people.

Applaud it due in some measure, no doubt, to the fact that he's not afraid to put his

theories to the test. Like one of his great heroes, John Maynard Keynes, he's moved between

the academic life and politics, working successfully with governments in South America and Eastern Europe to help

restore their broken economies. In this series of Reith lectures, he'll be explaining how he believes

that with global cooperation, our resources can be harnessed to create a more equal and harmonious

world.

If we cannot achieve this, he says, we will face catastrophe.

We'll simply be overwhelmed by disease, hunger, pollution and the clash of civilizations.

In this, the first of his series of five lectures, he begins by setting the scene, describing an overpopulated world on the brink of devastating change, a world that, as the title of the lecture says, is bursting

at the seams.

Ladies and gentlemen, will you please welcome the BBC's Reith Lecturer, 2007, Jeffrey Sachs.

Thank you very much, Sue. Thanks to BBC.

Thanks to the Royal Society.

And thanks to all of you, ladies and gentlemen.

Sue Lally has it right that this is a house that has assembled the world's greatest minds throughout modern history,

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