Law of Population
Encyclopedia
Law of Population was a massive treatise written by Michael Thomas Sadler
as a response to Thomas Robert Malthus's works on population growth, notably An Essay on the Principle of Population
(first edition 1798). In his essay, Sadler refutes Malthus' conclusions regarding the geometric growth of populations and proposes that the growth of populations is a far less worrisome menace. At this period population growth had become a "political bugbear" throughout England, much in a way comparable to modern day fears of terrorism or Cold War
fears of nuclear war.
In this work Sadler proposed many factors in models of population growth that are now widely accepted as fact, such as that "[Birth rates] tend to decline with increasing levels of prosperity."
Michael Thomas Sadler
Michael Thomas Sadler was a radical British Tory Member of Parliament , opponent of Catholic emancipation and leader of the factory reform movement...
as a response to Thomas Robert Malthus's works on population growth, notably An Essay on the Principle of Population
An Essay on the Principle of Population
The book An Essay on the Principle of Population was first published anonymously in 1798 through J. Johnson . The author was soon identified as The Reverend Thomas Robert Malthus. While it was not the first book on population, it has been acknowledged as the most influential work of its era...
(first edition 1798). In his essay, Sadler refutes Malthus' conclusions regarding the geometric growth of populations and proposes that the growth of populations is a far less worrisome menace. At this period population growth had become a "political bugbear" throughout England, much in a way comparable to modern day fears of terrorism or Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
fears of nuclear war.
In this work Sadler proposed many factors in models of population growth that are now widely accepted as fact, such as that "[Birth rates] tend to decline with increasing levels of prosperity."