This collection of essays by leading scholars in the field of childhood development focus on the critical issues and questions that need to be addressed at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Topics covered include the ecology of fetal development, birth and the newborn period, family ecology and infant development, infant care settings, gender influences on caregiving, culture, violence, poverty, substance abuse, social support, maternal age, risk and protective factors, the impact of legal and public policy, and historical, and future ecologies of infant development.