On Exponential Growth and Mathematical Purity: A Reply to Bartlett

Abstract

Though Bartlett has offered several constructive criticisms of the mathematical formulations that were included in my paper, Exponential Population Growth and Doubling Times, not one of them undermines either of the two basic points made in my paper—that exponential population growth is no longer being projected for any nation in the world and, this being so, writers and speakers addressing population issues no longer have reason to discuss either exponential growth or its frequent companion, “doubling times.” In making my argument, I included several paragraphs in which exponential growth, exponential curves, and doubling times were described. Bartlett has found these descriptions “distressing” and his paper explains his reasoning. So be it. I claim no scholarship in mathematics. In the writing of my paper I believed—and still do—that my descriptions provide background material that is useful to readers not concerned with mathematical purity.