MALTHUS, THOMAS ROBERT

Malthus, Thomas Robert: translation

in geography, renowned for his theory of population as it relates to resources. Based on the principles that food production increases at an arithmetic rate, whereas population increases at an exponential rate, Malthus stated that population had to outstrip resources over time. He suggested that this would trigger both preventative checks, such as postponement of marriage or reduction of family size, and positive checks, such as famine or war, to reduce population. Unforeseen changes in technology and agricultural organization discredited his theory as massive food production increases through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries negated his ideas. However, his theory has found new favour in the late twentieth century as neo-Malthusianism.