A cousin of Charles Darwin, Francis Galton was so impressed with Darwin's "Origin of the Species" that he decided to investigate in detail the implications of inheritance and evolution for the development of outstanding human abilities. By 'hereditary genius' Galton meant 'an ability that was exceptionally high and at the same time in born', and he argued that in the debate over 'nature vs nurture' (an expression that he coined) nature always prevails. In 1869, he published this his first book on the topic, presenting a good deal of evidence showing that exceptional ability often ran in families. Galton pointed out that many high achievers had relatives who displayed notable abilities. Based on statistical sampling, he concluded that eminence in any field was due to hereditary factors. Many greeted these results with scepticism, but Charles Darwin expressed his admiration for Galton's results and later cited his work in "The Descent of Man". Galton went on to use this initial research as the basis for a new field which he called 'eugenics', the aim of which was 'the betterment of the human race' through 'appropriate marriages or abstention from marriage'. Although Galton's ideas gained momentum over several decades, they were eventually discredited after being misappropriated by the Nazis as part of their racist ideology. Today, however, with the discovery of heritabel diseases, the use of genetic screening to eliminate undesirable traits, sperm banks, and the possibility of designer babies and human cloning, his groundbreaking research has gained renewed currency and will be the subject of debate for years to come.
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Among his many significant accomplishments, British scientist SIR FRANCIS GALTON (1822-1911) was an explorer, a geographer, a statistician, and inventor of fingerprint identification. In addition to more than 300 scientific papers, he wrote the books Narrative of an Explorer in Tropical South Africa (1853), Finger Prints (1893), Memories of My Life (1908), and others.
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18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
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Primary resource material of the greatest interest,
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This review is from: Hereditary Genius: An Inquiry Into Its Laws and Consequences (Paperback)
The first quantitative analysis of human mental ability. Galton introduced the notion that mental ability was normally distributed in much the same ways as are physical traits. His strong nativistic perspective served as the point of origin for the nature/nurture debate in its modern form.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
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Avoid this edition.,
By Ed (Boston) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hereditary genius: an inquiry into its laws and consequences (Paperback)
Amazon's choice to sell print-on-demand versions alongside real books without clearly distinguishing between them in the product description is already a questionable business practice. But when a print-on-demand book arrives and is a cheap photocopy of half of the book stuck in between two flimsy covers, it feels like being taken advantage of. What I received was shoddily produced and clearly had no effort at quality control put into it. Shame on "Nabu Press" and shame on Amazon.
2 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
The nespaper Catholic World was right in 1870,
By Dalton C. Rocha (Fortaleza, CE, Brazil.) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Hereditary Genius: An Inquiry Into Its Laws and Consequences (Great Minds Series) (Paperback)
I live in Brazil.I'll be sincere.I tried to read this trash-book, on an internet site.This book is so weak, that I didn't finished it.I read a review published at a catholic newspaper, The Catholic World , in 1870.About this trash-book, cathoilc world newspaper was right and this, in 1870!
Well this book has dozens of failures.To example, human inteligence is the subject of this book, but this book never shows, really what is human inteligence. The author himself never had a son.He didn't had descendency, something normal among eugenicists, such as he.Eugenicists were the ecologists of XIX Century.A brazilian told more than forty years ago:"I respect the idiots, because they are eternal."
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First Sentence:
I PROPOSE to show in this book that a man's natural abilities are derived by inheritance, under exactly the same limitations as are the form and physical features of the whole organic world. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
eminent relations, senior wrangler, hereditary genius, eminent men Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Lord Chancellor, Sir Edward, Sir Thomas, Lord Keeper, Sir Robert, Sir William, Sir Henry, Sir James, Secretary of State, Right Hon, Sir Charles, Sir George, Chief Just, Lord Brougham, Lord Stowell, Royal Society, Sir Richard, Earl of Manchester, Lord Bacon, Roger North, Sir Francis, Bishop of Salisbury, Duke of Wellington, Earl of Cork, French Academy New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
I PROPOSE to show in this book that a man's natural abilities are derived by inheritance, under exactly the same limitations as are the form and physical features of the whole organic world. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
eminent relations, senior wrangler, hereditary genius, eminent men Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Lord Chancellor, Sir Edward, Sir Thomas, Lord Keeper, Sir Robert, Sir William, Sir Henry, Sir James, Secretary of State, Right Hon, Sir Charles, Sir George, Chief Just, Lord Brougham, Lord Stowell, Royal Society, Sir Richard, Earl of Manchester, Lord Bacon, Roger North, Sir Francis, Bishop of Salisbury, Duke of Wellington, Earl of Cork, French Academy New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 37
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100
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- Lord North (British Political Biography Series) by Peter David Garner Thomas on page 98, and page 120
- Sir Thomas More (Select Bibliographies Reprint Series) by Leslie Paul on page 127, and page 285
- Tom Jones (Oxford World's Classics) by Henry Fielding on page 91, and page 175
- Lays of Ancient Rome by Thomas Babington Macaulay on page 179
- Lays of Ancient Rome by Thomas Babbington Macaulay on page 179
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- The Criminal Spectre in Law, Literature and Aesthetics by Peter J. Hutchings on 4 pages
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- Home-Grown Hate: Gender and Organized Racism (Perspectives on Gender) by Abby L. Ferber on page 28, and Back Matter
- The Race Myth: Why We Pretend Race Exists in America by Joseph Graves on page 166, and Back Matter
- Reinventing King Arthur: The Arthurian Legends In Victorian Culture (Nineteenth Century Series) by Inga Bryden on page 41, and Back Matter
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