E. A. Wrigley
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E. A. Wrigley, (born 1931) commonly known as Tony Wrigley, is a historical demographer. Wrigley and Peter Laslett co-founded the Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure in 1964.
He wrote the book "Continuity, Chance and Change" in 1988. In this he explains why Malthus was wrong about the law of diminishing returns slowing population growth. Wrigley pointed out that farmland was originally used for food, textiles, fuel and building materials. He calls this an 'advanced organic economy'. By the 1850s, Britain's population and living standards had both grown rapidly, despite Malthus' predictions. This was because most British textiles were imported; coal had replaced wood, peat and charcoal as a fuel; while brick (baked with coal) and slate had replaced wood and thatch in buildings. Land used for coal mining did not compete with space for growing crops. Horses were steadily being replaced with machinery so land used for growing fodder could be freed up. Artificial fertilisers replaced horse dung. This theory explains why he Netherlands failed to industrialise. Despite its low taxes, good education and transport system, it had no coal and was dependent on peat. Its population growth was Europe's slowest.
He was master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge from 1994 until 2001.
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| Preceded by Michael William McCrum |
Master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge 1994-2001 |
Succeeded by Haroon Ahmed |
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