Thomas Robert Malthus

    Thomas Robert Malthus (February 14, 1766 - 1834) was an English economist known particularly for his views on population growth.

    Malthus studied mathematics and philosophy at St John's College, Cambridge, where he went on to become a fellow. Later he became Professor of History and Political Economy at Hailingbury College. He was also ordained and became a country parson.

    In An Essay on the Principle of Population, written in 1798, Thomas Malthus predicted that the demand for food would inevitably surpass its supply. This prediction was based on the idea that population increases at a geometric rate while the food supply grows at the slower arithmetic rate. The difference between the two would eventually lead to what is now known as the Malthusian catastrophe in which population growth exceeded the capacity of the world to sustain that population.

    Malthus' observation that population growth is limited by resource availability may have influenced Charles Darwin while he was developing his theory of evolution by natural selection. Darwin himself, in his book Origin of Species, called his theory an application of the doctrines of Malthus in an area without the complicating factor of human intelligence.

    Notable works include:

    • An Essay on the Principle of Population (1798)
    • An Investigation of the Cause of the Present High Price of Provisions

    External Links

    e-texts of some of Thomas Robert Malthus's works:

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