An Essay On the Principle of Population & a Summary View of the Principle of Population (Classics) - Softcover

The provocative historical work on social economy, demography, and population control. Malthus' life's work on human population and its dependency on food production and the environment was highly controversial on publication in 1798. He predicted what is known as the Malthusian catastrophe, in which humans would disregard the limits of natural resources and the world would be plagued by famine and disease. He significantly influenced the thinking of Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace and his theories continue to raise important questions today in the fields of social theory, economics and the environment. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Malthus's simple yet powerful argument was highly controversial in its day. Literary England despised him for dashing its hopes of social progress. today his name remains a byword for active concern about man's demographic and ecological prospects.