Albert Allen Bartlett (March 21, 1923 – September 7, 2013) was an American professor of physics at the

University of Colorado at Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a Public university, public research university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a Federated state, state, it is the fla ...

. As of July 2001, Professor Bartlett had lectured over 1,742 times since September 1969 on ''Arithmetic, Population, and Energy''. Bartlett regarded the word combination "

sustainable growth Sustainable development is an approach to growth and human development that aims to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.United Nations General Assembly (1987)''Report of th ...

" as an

oxymoron An oxymoron (plurals: oxymorons and oxymora) is a figure of speech that Juxtaposition, juxtaposes concepts with opposite meanings within a word or in a phrase that is a self-contradiction (disambiguation), self-contradiction. As a rhetorical de ...

, and argued that modest annual percentage population increases could lead to

exponential growth Exponential growth occurs when a quantity grows as an exponential function of time. The quantity grows at a rate directly proportional to its present size. For example, when it is 3 times as big as it is now, it will be growing 3 times as fast ...

. He therefore regarded

human overpopulation Human overpopulation (or human population overshoot) is the idea that human populations may become too large to be sustainability, sustained by their environment or resources in the long term. The topic is usually discussed in the context of wor ...

as "The Greatest Challenge" facing humanity.

Career

Bartlett received a B.A. in

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

Colgate University Colgate University is a Private university, private college in Hamilton, New York, United States. The Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York ...

(1944), and an M.A. (1948) and Ph.D. (1951) in physics at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. Bartlett joined the faculty at the

in September 1950. In 1978 he was national president of the

American Association of Physics Teachers The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) 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 in over 30 countries. AAPT publications includ ...

. He was a

fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of ...

and of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

. In 1969 and 1970 he served two terms as the elected chair of the four-campus faculty council at the university. He won the Robert A. Millikan award.

Views on population growth

Bartlett viewed

as a

contradiction In traditional logic, a contradiction involves a proposition conflicting either with itself or established fact. It is often used as a tool to detect disingenuous beliefs and bias. Illustrating a general tendency in applied logic, Aristotle's ...

. His view was that modest percentage growth will equate to huge escalations over relatively short periods of time. Over time, Bartlett argued, compound growth can yield enormous increases. For example, an investor earning a constant annual 7% return on their investment would find his or her capital doubling within 10 years. He applied the same exponential power to

human population In world demographics, the world population is the total number of humans currently alive. It was estimated by the United Nations to have exceeded eight billion in mid-November 2022. It took around 300,000 years of human prehistory and histor ...

, and argued this would have calamitous results. He argued that a population of 10,000 individuals, if it were to grow at a constant rate of 7% per annum, would reach a population size of 10 million after 100 years. Bartlett regarded what he viewed as the failure to understand

as "The Greatest Challenge" facing humanity, and promoted

sustainable living Sustainable living describes a lifestyle (sociology), lifestyle that attempts to reduce the use of Earth's natural resources by an individual or society. Its practitioners often attempt to reduce their ecological footprint (including their carbo ...

; he was an early advocate on the topic of

overpopulation Overpopulation or overabundance is a state in which the population of a species is larger than the carrying capacity of its environment. This may be caused by increased birth rates, lowered mortality rates, reduced predation or large scale migr ...

. He opposed the cornucopian school of thought (as advocated by people such as Julian Lincoln Simon), and referred to it as "The New Flat Earth Society". J. B. Calvert (1999) has proposed that Bartlett's law will result in the exhaustion of petrochemical resources caused by exponential growth of the world population (in line with the

Malthusian Growth Model A Malthusian growth model, sometimes called a simple exponential growth model, is essentially exponential growth based on the idea of the function being proportional to the speed to which the function grows. The model is named after Thomas Robert ...

). Bartlett made 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?"

Death

Bartlett died on September 7, 2013, at the age of 90.

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.

Influence and legacy

In August 2013, a month before Bartlett's death, the Environmental Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder offered training on giving his presentation; the team "came together because they believe so strongly in Dr. Bartlett's message and want to ensure it continues to be delivered well into the future".

Notes

References

Professor talks at an exponential rate
Energy Bulletin article by Todd Neff. Retrieved July 2011

External links

*
2008 Video interview with Albert Bartlett by Atomic Heritage Foundation
Voices of the Manhattan Project
Professor Bartlett's website
contains background, articles, book "''The Essential Exponential''", and links to his talk, "''Arithmetic, Population, and Energy''". Retrieved July 2011
Professor Bartlett's page at the University of Colorado
Retrieved July 2011

Retrieved July 2011
"''Arithmetic, Population, and Energy''" by Professor Albert Bartlett
Free audio and video 57 minute lecture. Retrieved July 2011

Text of lecture (extracts). Retrieved July 2011

– Exponentialist website. Retrieved July 2011

Ecofuture website. Retrieved July 2011

article by Professor Bartlett. Retrieved July 2011
''Thoughts on Long-term Energy Supplies - Scientists and the Silent Lie''
article on energy and population in Physics Today (2004). Retrieved July 2011
''Clean Coal Technology''
Speech by Andrew McNamara MP on clean coal and report by Professor Bartlett * (Part 1 of 8), (parts 2-4 are linked). Retrieved July 2011 * (Part 5 of 8), (parts 6-8 are linked). Retrieved July 2011
Arithmetic, Population & Energy
@Google (entire video). Retrieved July 2011
Lecture by Professor Bartlett about the exponential function
@Vimeo. Retrieved December 2013
hour-long interview with Professor Bartlett by CU Outreach
@Vimeo. Retrieved December 2013
BLIND SPOT, Documentary, Population & Energy
Retrieved July 2011 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bartlett, Albert Allen 1923 births 2013 deaths American physicists Colgate University alumni Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences alumni American science teachers American sustainability advocates University of Colorado Boulder faculty Scientists from New York (state) Fellows of the American Physical Society Presidents of the American Association of Physics Teachers Malthusians