Title page from An Essay on the Principle of Population, 2 vols. [1826, 6th ed.]

An Essay on the Principle of Population, 2 vols. [1826, 6th ed.]

This is the 6th expanded edition of Essay on the Principle of Population. In this work Malthus argues that there is a disparity between the rate of growth of population (which increases geometrically) and the rate of growth of agriculture (which increases only arithmetically). He then explores how populations have historically been kept in check.