We thought the curve would level out when we ran out of food, same as with rabbits.

  The battle to feed all of humanity is over. In the 1970s hundreds of millions of people will starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked upon now.

Paul Ehrlich, The Population Bomb, 1968

It seems the authors were publishing outside their main area of expertise.

"The authors are members of the staff of the department of electrical engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana."