An Essay on the Principle of Population

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.), and the result would end in famine and starvation, unless births were controlled. The book overlooked the potential improvements in farming, as better technology to grow more food on less land or faster by steam-powered machines, chemical fertilizers, drip irrigation, night lighting, or genetically modified organisms (GMO) grown larger.