• Thomas Malthus proposed that the optimal population size is tied to the food supply. Any population increase beyond this optimal size would lead to declining living standards, war, famine, and disease.
• He theorized that population would grow at an exponential rate (geometric growth) while food supply would only increase at an arithmetic rate.
• Preventive checks (like delayed marriage, sexual abstinence within marriage) and positive checks (like war, famine, disease) would limit population growth.
• The optimum population would vary with technology and resource availability.
• During the Industrial Revolution, food production grew faster than population growth thanks to industrial advancements.
• Humans have increased food production through methods like draining marshlands, cross-breeding cattle, high-yielding crop varieties, and more sophisticated irrigation techniques.

Real-World Example Think about a pizza party! If 10 people are coming, and pizzas are ordered according to Malthus's theory, you'd get 1 pizza for the first person, 2 for the second, 3 for the third, and so on. But with 10 people, you'd need 55 pizzas - that's too much pizza! That's why Malthus thought we need preventive checks to avoid "over-ordering."

• Boserup believed that humans could increase food production as needed, with knowledge and technology being the crucial resources.
• According to her, population growth stimulated advancements in agricultural techniques.
• Population growth would trigger agricultural development and increase the food supply.

Real-World Example Imagine a big family that always used to cook in a small pot. As the family grows, they find that the pot is too small to cook enough food. Instead of reducing the family size (Malthus's solution), they decide to buy a bigger pot or even start using two pots (Boserup's solution).

• This model examines five factors that limit growth on Earth: population, agricultural production, natural resources, industrial production, and pollution.
• It suggests that if the current growth trends continue, we'll reach our limits in the next 100 years, leading to a significant decline in population and industrial capabilities.