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Albert Allen Bartlett (born 1923 in Shanghai
Shanghai

Shanghai is the List of cities in the People's Republic of China by population in China and one of the List of metropolitan areas by population in the world, with over 20 million people....
) is an emeritus Professor of Physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder
University of Colorado at Boulder

The University of Colorado at Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado. Considered a Public Ivy, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado system and was founded five months before Colorado was admitted to the union in 1876....
, USA. Professor Bartlett has lectured over 1,600 times since September, 1969 on Arithmetic, Population, and Energy.

Bartlett joined the faculty of the University of Colorado in Boulder in September 1950. His B.A. degree in physics is from Colgate University
Colgate University

Colgate University is a private Liberal arts colleges in the United States located in the Hamilton , New York in Madison County, New York, USA. It was founded in 1819 as a Baptist seminary, but has since become non-denominational....
 (1944) and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in physics are from Harvard University
Harvard University

Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the Colonial Colleges institution of higher learning in the United States....
 (1948), (1951).






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Albert Allen Bartlett (born 1923 in Shanghai
Shanghai

Shanghai is the List of cities in the People's Republic of China by population in China and one of the List of metropolitan areas by population in the world, with over 20 million people....
) is an emeritus Professor of Physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder
University of Colorado at Boulder

The University of Colorado at Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado. Considered a Public Ivy, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado system and was founded five months before Colorado was admitted to the union in 1876....
, USA. Professor Bartlett has lectured over 1,600 times since September, 1969 on Arithmetic, Population, and Energy.

Bartlett joined the faculty of the University of Colorado in Boulder in September 1950. His B.A. degree in physics is from Colgate University
Colgate University

Colgate University is a private Liberal arts colleges in the United States located in the Hamilton , New York in Madison County, New York, USA. It was founded in 1819 as a Baptist seminary, but has since become non-denominational....
 (1944) and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in physics are from Harvard University
Harvard University

Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the Colonial Colleges institution of higher learning in the United States....
 (1948), (1951). In 1978 he was national president of the American Association of Physics Teachers
American Association of Physics Teachers

The American Association of Physics Teachers was founded in 1930 for the purpose of "dissemination of knowledge of physics, particularly by way of teaching." There are more than 10,000 members that reside in over 30 countries....
. He is a Fellow
Research fellow

The title of research fellow is used to denote an Academic rank at a university or similar institution. A research fellow may act as independent investigator, or under the supervision of a principal investigator....
 of the American Physical Society
American Physical Society

The American Physical Society was founded in 1899 and is the world's second largest organization of physicists, behind the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft....
 and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Association for the Advancement of Science

The American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation between scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting science education and science outreach for the betterment of all humanity....
. In 1969 and 1970 he served two terms as the elected Chair of the four-campus Faculty Council of the University of Colorado.

Bartlett is a modern-day Malthusian.

Professor Bartlett often explains how sustainable growth is an oxymoron
Oxymoron

An oxymoron is a figure of speech that combines two normally contradiction terms. Oxymoron is a loanword from Greek language oxy and moros ....
. His view is based on the fact that a modest percentage growth can equate to huge escalations over short periods of time. He has famously stated that "The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function
Exponential function

The exponential function is a function in mathematics. The application of this function to a value x is written as exp. Equivalently, this can be written in the form ex, where e is the mathematical constant that is the base of the natural logarithm and that is also known as Euler's number....
."

He regards overpopulation
Overpopulation

Overpopulation is a condition where an organism's numbers exceed the carrying capacity of its habitat. In common parlance, the term usually refers to the relationship between the world population and its environment , the Earth....
 as "The Greatest Challenge" facing humanity, and promotes sustainable living
Sustainable living

Sustainable living refers to a specific lifestyle that attempts to reduce an individual or society use of the Earth natural resource. Practitioners of sustainable living often attempt to reduce their carbon footprint by altering methods of transportation, energy consumption and diet ....
. Bartlett opposes the cornucopian
Cornucopian

A cornucopian is a futurist who believes that continued progress and provision of material items for mankind can be met by similarly continued advances in technology....
 school of thought (as advocated by people such as Julian Lincoln Simon
Julian Lincoln Simon

Julian Lincoln Simon was a professor of business administration at the University of Maryland, College Park and a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute....
), and refers to it as .

J. B. Calvert (1999) has proposed that will result in the exhaustion of petrochemical resources due to the exponential growth
Exponential growth

Exponential growth occurs when the growth rate of a mathematical function is proportionality to the function's current value. In the case of a discrete domain of definition with equal intervals it is also called geometric growth or geometric decay ....
 of the world population
World population

The world population is the total number of living humans on Earth at a given time. As of March 2009, the world's population is estimated to be about 6.76 1,000,000,000 ....
 (as per the Malthusian Growth Model
Malthusian growth model

The Malthusian growth model, sometimes called the simple exponential growth model, is essentially exponential growth based on a constant rate of compound interest....
).

Bartlett has made two notable statements relating to sustainability:

"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function."


and his Great Challenge:

"Can you think of any problem in any area of human endeavor on any scale, from microscopic to global, whose long-term solution is in any demonstrable way aided, assisted, or advanced by further increases in population, locally, nationally, or globally?"


Books

  • The Essential Exponential For the Future of Our Planet a collection of essays by Professor Bartlett (2004). Center for Science, Mathematics and Computer Education, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. ISBN 0-9758973-0-6


See also

  • Exponential growth
    Exponential growth

    Exponential growth occurs when the growth rate of a mathematical function is proportionality to the function's current value. In the case of a discrete domain of definition with equal intervals it is also called geometric growth or geometric decay ....
  • Thomas Robert Malthus - the originator of the Malthusian catastrophe
    Malthusian catastrophe

    A Malthusian catastrophe was originally foreseen to be a forced return to subsistence-level conditions once population growth had outpaced agriculture production, costs, and pricing....
     argument


External links

  • contains background, articles, book "The Essential Exponential", and links to his talk, "Arithmetic, Population, and Energy"
  • Free audio and video 57 minute lecture
  • Text of lecture (extracts)
  • June 2007 Interview with Dr. Bartlett
  • - Exponentialist website
  • Ecofuture website
  • article by Professor Albert Bartlett
  • article on energy and population in Physics Today (2004)
  • Article by Willem Middeloop at Dutch management forum De Scopist
  • Speech by Andrew McNamara
    Andrew McNamara

    Andrew Ian McNamara is a member of the Queensland State Parliament and the Minister for Sustainability, Climate Change and Innovation in the Queensland government....
     MP on clean coal and report by Professor Bartlett
  • @YouTube.com (Part 1 of 8), (parts 2-4 are linked).
  • @YouTube.com (Part 5 of 8), (parts 6-8 are linked).
  • @Google (entire video)
  • - Video clip 8.5min