ABSTRACT
The ability of our planet to sustain and feed the dramatic increases in human population growth has been an ongoing debate stretching back over 200 years. An English clergyman and economist by the name of Thomas Malthus published an article in 1789 titled “An Essay on the Principle of Population.” He concluded that human populations grow exponentially (2, 4, 8, 16, …) and that plants grow arithmetically (1, 2, 3, 4, …) so that eventually uncontrolled human growth would lead to “misery and death,” as growth exceeds the capability of the land to feed the expanding population. The predictions of Malthus were not widely accepted initially, and were even scorned as opportunities for migration relieved population pressures, and technological advances in agriculture increased the available food supply.
