Mark I. Vuletic

Last updated 21 March 2008

Analysis

Population growth rates are not uniform. Robert Pennock elaborates:

While application of the principle of uniformity makes good sense when speaking of radioactive decay or random mutation, it does not work so simply given what we know of the history of human population size...Data on other animal species in nature reveal that population size is typically highly variable, with cycles of increase and decrease that average a growth rate of zero, which is what scientists believe held for most of the early history of the human species as well. It was only the advent of agricultural production, the development of permanent settlements and cities, and the introduction of mechanization that allowed the rate of human population growth to depart significantly from this norm to achieve exponential increase. (Pennock 1999:225)

References

Pennock RT. 1999. Tower of Babel: The Evidence Against the New Creationism. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.