Reinventing Malthus for the 21st Century
Celebrating the Bicentennial of Malthus' Original Population Essay
The 200th Anniversary of one of the most provocative essays in the history of Western thought is upon us, the original edition of An Essay on the Principle of Population by Thomas Malthus, first published in 1798.
This important essay first identified the geometric role of natural population increase in outrunning subsistence food supplies, prompting Charles Darwin to explore the actual patterns of evolution. What can we learn from Malthus 200 years later?
Approximately one billion people now go to bed hungry every night. Several hundred thousand die of malnutrition every year. Malthus recognized limits: can we ignore population limits in today's world?