Project Sherlock

Book

1798

An Essay on the Principle of Population

Thomas Robert Malthus

Argues population outruns food supply — wrong about the outcome, right that demography and resources are one problem, and never out of the argument since.

Read it

Where it is now wrong

The central prediction failed for the industrialising world. Agricultural productivity outran population growth, and birth rates fell as incomes rose — the demographic transition, which Malthus had no reason to anticipate.

Before you start

FreeIntermediateabout 3.5 hours to readlink checked 17 Sept 2026

Filed under Demography in Sociology & Anthropology.