Students who are not majoring in any of the social sciences, who are more enthralled with computers and robots, or with mathematical mysteries, or with what lies beyond our little planet, still need to know how this beleaguered planet lives. And the social sciences provide a basis for this knowledge. So . . . here is a panorama of what we have learned from such disciplines as anthropology, geography, history, sociology, psychology, political science, and economics, about the issues that an ever-faster tempo of change presents to us regarding family life, interaction with others, racial and ethnic diversity, problems in education, in religion, in population, in the environment, and so many others.