Knut Wicksell is arguably the greatest Swedish social scientist of all time and poverty was a theme that occupied him all his life. Indeed, it was probably this interest that was the main factor in drawing Wicksell away from his purely mathematical background and towards a greater understanding of the social sciences as a whole.Mats Lundahl, one of the world's leading development economists, examines Wicksell's thinking in the area and shows that his contribution is a major one. Copyright (C) Muze Inc. 2005. For personal use only. All rights reserved.