Race, Racism, and Science: Social Impact and Interaction (Science and Society) [Paperback]

John P. Jackson (Editor), Nadine M. Weidman (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0813537363 | ISBN-13: 978-0813537368 | Publication Date: September 29, 2005

Since the eighteenth century when natural historians created the idea of distinct racial categories, scientific findings on race have been a double-edged sword. For some antiracists, science holds the promise of one day providing indisputable evidence to help eradicate racism. On the other hand, science has been enlisted to promote racist beliefs ranging from a justification of slavery in the eighteenth century to the infamous twentieth-century book, The Bell Curve, whose authors argued that racial differences in intelligence resulted in lower test scores for African Americans. This well-organized, readable textbook takes the reader through a chronological account of how and why racial categories were created and how the study of "race" evolved in multiple academic disciplines, including genetics, psychology, sociology, and anthropology. In a bibliographic essay at the conclusion of each of the book's seven sections, the authors recommend primary texts that will further the reader's understanding of each topic. Heavily illustrated and enlivened with sidebar biographies, this text is ideal for classroom use. John P. Jackson, Jr., is an assistant professor in the department of communication at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He is the author of Social Scientists for Social Justice: Making the Case against Segregation and Science for Segregation: Race, Law, and the Case against Brown v. Board of Education. Nadine Weidman is a lecturer in history of science at the Harvard University Extension School and the author of Constructing Scientific Psychology: Karl Lashley's Mind-Brain Debates.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John P. Jackson, Jr., is an assistant professor in the department of communication at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He is the author of Social Scientists for Social Justice: Making the Case against Segregation and Science for Segregation: Race, Law, and the Case against Brown v. Board of Education.

Nadine Weidman is a lecturer in history of science at the Harvard University Extension School and the author of Constructing Scientific Psychology: Karl Lashley’s Mind-Brain Debates.

Product Details

• Paperback: 424 pages
• Publisher: Rutgers University Press (September 29, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813537363
• ISBN-13: 978-0813537368
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #376,791 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How an intellectual elite robbed man of his dignity, August 23, 2010

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charlene at Dosido Bookshelf (Fullerton, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Race, Racism, and Science: Social Impact and Interaction (Science and Society) (Paperback)

The authors have done a wonderful job of organizing an intellectual history with succinct narratives and career profiles of scholars and movements that won the Western world, in approximately two centuries, to a naturalistic view of humanity. Now liberated from superstitions that all men are created in the image of God (my inference, not the authors'), the elite now led nations into new pathways of eugenics, social Darwinism, master-race concepts, and unjust social policies chronicled by the authors. It is very useful to see the links and review the history compactly presented in this book.