breeding like rabbits

[Michael]

Yes Thump. Nobody disputed the general thrust of Malthus's predictions. People questioned the precision of his maths as he made quite a few precise predictions which, with hindsight, didn't come to pass. But, yes, everyone could see the basic truth in what he was saying, even if his maths was perhaps trying to be more precise than warranted (he was a great fan and advocate of Newton, and was looking for the same level of precision in what turns out to be more more uncertain projections). He didn't, for example, foresee the huge increases in food production per acre that careful selective breeding of plants would bring.

Sorry, I should have been clearer there.