Thomas Malthus

An Essay on the Principle of Population Thomas Malthus

An essay on the principle of population, as it affects the future improvement of society, with remarks on the speculations of Mr. Godwin, M. Condorcet, and other writers - Thomas Malthus.. The book An Essay on the Principle of Population was first published anonymously in 1798, but the author was soon identified as Thomas Robert Malthus. The book predicted a grim future, as population would increase geometrically, doubling every 25 years, but food production would only grow arithmetically (rising as 1,2,3,4, etc.), which would result in famine and starvation, unless births were controlled. The book overlooked potential improvements in farming such as steam-powered machines, chemical fertilizers, drip irrigation, night lighting, or genetically modified organisms (GMO). The following Essay owes its origin to a conversation with a friend, on the subject of Mr Godwin