Predicted that population would outpace the food supply.

Thomas Malthus was an English scholar and cleric who was known for his views in political science and demography (study of population). His views suggested that population would outpace food the supply of food and that the only vital parameters of population growth were famine, war and diseases. His writings on demography were influential in shaping the economic thinking.

The answer is observations and interpreting.

Cotton was the very first