An Essay on the Principle of Population

The law of population is a submission that increase the population of the earth exponentially, thus satisfying a geometric series.

History

The law was the first time in 1798 in Thomas Robert Malthus ' Essay on the Principle of Population ( Eng.: The law of population ) published anonymously.

The observations of the last centuries in fact show an exponential growth of the population figures for the world as a whole. However, the growth rates are now declining.

Because - while the population to multiply according to a geometric progression - the food supply, according to another theory of Malthus grow only arithmetically, open to a permanent gap between food demand and food supply.

Arithmetic:

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 08.09.10 ...

Geometric:

1-2 - 4 - 8 - 16-32 - 64-128 ...

According to Malthus Consequently threatens a population trap. This thesis can not be empirically supported, in principle. As a counter-thesis is on the artificial fertilizer, generally referred to technical progress, which could allow the production of food grow exponentially.