Malthusian Economics

I recently read Thomas Malthus's Essay on the Principle of Population, and while I often emerge from the dusty tomes of classical economics with some fresh perspective on the present day, Malthus leaves me decidedly unenlightened.

In all, I'm impressed that Malthus is not the idiot that he is often made out to be. Though the calculations for which he is known and mocked, regarding the growth in population versus the growth of agricultural development, are decidedly ill-conceived, he's otherwise well-meaning and circumspect, and raises a number of good points in support of a failed thesis.

But beyond that, I'm not really taking much away from the book, expect perhaps some insights as to the difference in economics of emerging nations as compared to more developed nations, and maybe the sense that mankind in general has made excellent progress in certain areas. But somehow, I think there may have been a quicker and less tedious route to the same destination.