Fertility, Mortality and Causes of Death: An Examination of Issues Related to the Modern Rise of Population

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Abstract
Some sources of misunderstanding of the interpretation of the growth of human populations, particularly the lack of attention given to increased fertility and the emphasis on the importance of nutrition, were removed. Whatever assumptions were made about fertility and mortality in the preregistration period, the reduction of the death rate was undoubtedly the predominant influence during the past 3 centuries. There was no direct evidence of improvement in nutrition during the 18th and early 19th centuries. The case for its significance, which is circumstantial, is 3-fold: this explanation is consistent with present day experience of infectious diseases: it accounts for the growth of population in many countries at about the same time and, when extended to include improved hygiene and limitation of numbers, it attributes the decline of infections to modification of the conditions which led to their predominance.

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