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Anthropometrics and the Normal in Francis Galton’s Anthropological, Statistical, and Eugenic Research, c. 1870–1910

Peter Cryle and Elizabeth Stephens

in Normality: A Critical Genealogy

In the final decades of the nineteenth century, the word normal did not yet have a strongly statistical meaning. It did not become fully elaborated as a statistical term until the turn of the ... More

In the final decades of the nineteenth century, the word normal did not yet have a strongly statistical meaning. It did not become fully elaborated as a statistical term until the turn of the century. This elaboration is widely attributed to Francis Galton, through his theorization of the concept normal distribution, which he did not name as such until the final years of the 1800s. In the first decade of the twentieth century, then, the normal remained what it had been throughout the nineteenth century: a specialized term whose use was confined almost exclusively to the professional discourses of anatomy, biology and anthropology. This chapter reads Galton’s photographic experiments with composite portraiture as exemplary of the ways, and the contexts, in which the word normal began to appear in popular culture and everyday speech. Although composite portraiture was never a successful part of Galton’s scientific research, it was one of his key research methods, and can be traced across his research in anthropology, statistics and eugenics.Less

‘The Ablest Race’: The Ancient Greeks in Victorian Racial Theory

Debbie Challis

in Classics and Imperialism in the British Empire

This chapter considers how the idealization of the human body in Greek art, as defined by Winckelmann, fed the theory that physical beauty and racial perfection were to be found among the ancient ... More

This chapter considers how the idealization of the human body in Greek art, as defined by Winckelmann, fed the theory that physical beauty and racial perfection were to be found among the ancient Greeks. Concentrating on the printed work and lectures of Robert Knox in the 1840s and 1850s, it considers how views on racial theory where formed and disseminated as well as the implications of Knox's use of Greek sculpture. It then considers how links were made between the ancient Greeks and contemporary ‘races’, or ‘types of mankind’, such as Saxons in Britain, and how this related to various claims to ownership of the classical past. It finishes with a brief overview of the geneticist Francis Galton's attitude towards the ancient Greeks and how this fed his views on emigration and the wider idea of ‘Greater Britain’.Less

Introduction

Christine Rosen

in Preaching Eugenics: Religious Leaders and the American Eugenics Movement

This introductory chapter describes the main themes of the book, placing them within the context of the scientific and cultural milieu from which the eugenics movement and its religious supporters ... More

This introductory chapter describes the main themes of the book, placing them within the context of the scientific and cultural milieu from which the eugenics movement and its religious supporters emerged. It describes the science of eugenics and its founder, Francis Galton, and the 19th century scientific discoveries upon which the eugenics movement would build, including Darwinian evolutionary theory and Lamarckianism, as well as a brief overview of the conflict between religion and science, as exemplified in the work of John William Draper and Andrew Dickson White. The chapter also discusses the influence of the Progressive Movement on American culture in the early 20th century, and an overview of liberal and modernist Protestantism, Reform Judaism, and liberal Catholicism.Less

My Life As a Machine: Francis Galton, with Some Reflections on A. R. Wallace

George Levine

in Dying to Know: Scientific Epistemology and Narrative in Victorian England

This chapter examines Alfred Russel Wallace's My Life and Francis Galton's Memories of My Life. My Life has many of the qualities of Charles Darwin's autobiography. Galton's narrative represents ... More

This chapter examines Alfred Russel Wallace's My Life and Francis Galton's Memories of My Life. My Life has many of the qualities of Charles Darwin's autobiography. Galton's narrative represents another version of the tradition of dying to know, for there is little evidence of the modesty Wallace exhibits. He describes his life so as to imply that the denial of self makes strict scientific sense. His project is to enhance on natural selection. Memories of My Life supplies a clear example of what it means to embody objectivist methodology and theory in narrative. The autobiographies of John Stuart Mill, Wallace and Galton provide examples of what happens when scientific epistemology is overtly dramatized in narrative; and clearly, the consequences are different, but the fate of the self remains similar.Less

A Eugenic Foundation

Michael Yudell and J. Craig Venter

in Race Unmasked: Biology and Race in the Twentieth Century

This chapter discusses how eugenics provided a scientific explanation for racial differences. The idea that racial differences can be understood as genetic distinctions in appearance and complex ... More

This chapter discusses how eugenics provided a scientific explanation for racial differences. The idea that racial differences can be understood as genetic distinctions in appearance and complex social behaviors between racial groups emerged in the wake of the eugenics movement. According to Francis Galton, founder of eugenics, heredity applied a singular influence on all the social characteristics of humankind. Galton conveyed his views about race through science, his social prejudices, and racism in two of his works, Hereditary Talent and Character and Hereditary Genius. The latter part of the chapter looks at the contributions of other scientists—anthropologist Samuel Morton, botanist Carolus Linnaeus, naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc, and scientist Johann Blumenbach—in explaining the diversity of humankind.Less

Sympathetic Selection: Eugenics

Rob Boddice

in The Science of Sympathy: Morality, Evolution, and Victorian Civilization

Chapter 5 returns to the blueprint for the evolution of sympathy in Darwin’s Descent, picking up at the point where Darwin introduces a paradoxical prediction of degeneration, caused by the same ... More

Chapter 5 returns to the blueprint for the evolution of sympathy in Darwin’s Descent, picking up at the point where Darwin introduces a paradoxical prediction of degeneration, caused by the same force that inspired social cohesion and moral progress. This chapter analyses the birth of the eugenics movement as a department of statistics, arising directly from a concern for the common good of civilised society – the central tenet of highly evolved sympathy. Unlike most studies of eugenics, this chapter focuses largely on the period before 1900, when the parameters of eugenic thought were being hashed out. It particularly focuses on the problem of degeneration as seen through the eyes of Francis Galton and Karl Pearson, who pointed to the need for social-policy interventions in breeding.Less

Auto/biografiction: Counterfeit Lives: A Taxonomy of Displacements of Fiction towards Life‐Writing

Max Saunders

in Self Impression: Life-Writing, Autobiografiction, and the Forms of Modern Literature

This chapter examines the converse displacement to that considered in Chapters 3 and Chapter 4, looking instead at cases where fiction‐writers colonize the forms of life‐writing, producing a variety ... More

This chapter examines the converse displacement to that considered in Chapters 3 and Chapter 4, looking instead at cases where fiction‐writers colonize the forms of life‐writing, producing a variety of fake diaries, journals, biographies, and autobiographies. It takes a different approach to most of the other chapters, consisting of brief accounts of many works rather than sustained readings of a few. A taxonomy of modern engagements with life‐writing is proposed. The chapter moves on to discuss Galton's notion of ‘composite portraiture’ as a way of thinking about the surprisingly pervasive form of the portrait‐collection. The main examples are from Ford, Stefan Zweig, George Eliot, Hesketh Pearson, Gertrude Stein, Max Beerbohm and Arthur Symons; Isherwood and Joyce's Dubliners also figure. Where Chapters 3 and Chapter 4 focused on books with a single central subjectivity, this chapter looks at texts of multiple subjectivities. It concludes with a discussion of the argument that multiple works — an entire oeuvre — should be read as autobiography.Less

Evolution and Genetics: Darwin and Galton

Mervyn Susser and Zena Stein

in Eras in Epidemiology: The Evolution of Ideas

This chapter focuses on the historical development of the concepts of evolution and genetics. In the 19th century a number of new ideas about host factors converged. Charles Darwin, in The Origin of ... More

This chapter focuses on the historical development of the concepts of evolution and genetics. In the 19th century a number of new ideas about host factors converged. Charles Darwin, in The Origin of Species in 1859, proposed that species evolved over the course of time, a process of natural selection and survival, which in given conditions produced gradual change. Francis Galton developed a purely hereditarian theory based on breeding alone. Gregor Mendel was an Augustinian monk and abbot. His epochal paper of 1866 described simply and clearly the genetic transmission of particular characteristics from one generation to the next.Less

Creative Cultures, Nations, and Civilizations: Strategies and Results

Dean Keith Simonton

in Group Creativity: Innovation through Collaboration

This chapter begins by discussing the debate between Francis Galton (1869) and Alphonse de Candolle (1873), a debate that Galton (1874) framed in terms of the classic nature-nurture issue. Although ... More

This chapter begins by discussing the debate between Francis Galton (1869) and Alphonse de Candolle (1873), a debate that Galton (1874) framed in terms of the classic nature-nurture issue. Although most psychologists have followed Galton in treating nurture in terms of family and school environments, a considerable literature has emerged which points to the significance of the larger sociocultural milieu. Some researchers have followed Candolle's example by examining cross-sectional units (nations or cultures) to discern the Ortgeist most conducive to creative activity at the aggregate level. Others have pursued the approach pioneered by Kroeber (1944), Sorokin (1937-1941) and others by scrutinizing how time-series fluctuations in group-level creativity are associated with short- and long-term changes in the Zeitgeist. Taken together, the research demonstrates that a specific set of political, economic, social, and cultural circumstances are associated with a high level of creative activity at a particular time or place.Less

Specialization as Monomania

in Obsession: A History

This chapter considers the connection between science, specialization, overwork, and obsession. It shows each is the other in the nineteenth century. The discussion covers obsession as modernity; ... More

This chapter considers the connection between science, specialization, overwork, and obsession. It shows each is the other in the nineteenth century. The discussion covers obsession as modernity; Thomas Love Peacock's book, Nightmare Abbey; Sir Francis Galton and his tendency towards obsessive thinking; genius as madness; Wilkie Collins's 1883 novel, Heart and Science; Robert Louis Stevenson's novella, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; Foucault and madness; and madness and normal.Less

The Apple and the Tree: Galton Revisited

Michael Beenstock

in Heredity, Family, and Inequality: A Critique of Social Sciences

This book examines the roles of heredity, family, and social environment in shaping outcomes among humans, including anthropometric, behavioral, psychological, and economic outcomes. Drawing on ... More

This book examines the roles of heredity, family, and social environment in shaping outcomes among humans, including anthropometric, behavioral, psychological, and economic outcomes. Drawing on extensive empirical literature, it shows that the outcomes of children are correlated with their parents’ outcomes to a certain extent, in virtually all aspects of life. It investigates the complex interplay among heredity, family, and environments using an axiomatic framework that draws on game theory, control theory, and econometrics. Several disciplines are involved in this study, from psychology and behavioral genetics to sociology, economics, and genetics. The book also recalls the scientific writings of Francis Galton (1822–1911), who laid the foundations for research on heredity and family and invented the dichotomy between “nature and nurture,” and concludes with a methodological critique of genome-wide association studies.Less

Regression to the Mean

Steven J. Osterlind

in The Error of Truth: How History and Mathematics Came Together to Form Our Character and Shape Our Worldview

This chapter focuses on two events that started the transformation to a quantifying worldview for the general public: (1) developments in transportation, especially the invention of the train ... More

This chapter focuses on two events that started the transformation to a quantifying worldview for the general public: (1) developments in transportation, especially the invention of the train (meaning people and goods could travel further) and (2) the consequent tremendous economic expansion which led to a full-blown industrial revolution, first in England and then in America. Work by Charles Darwin showed the broadening impact of quantitative thinking on the discipline of sociology. The chapter also discusses the accomplishments of Francis Galton, including his landmark work Hereditary Genius, the invention of Galton’s bean machine (“quincunx”), which demonstrated the central limit theorem, and his Anthropometric Laboratory, which he set up at the International Health Exhibition to measure mental faculties. Galton also discovered the concept of correlation and “reversion to the mean,” evolving the latter into “regression to the mean,” and invented many other statistical concepts, such as quartile, decile, and ogive.Less

Human Heredity and Eugenics Make Their International Debut

in The Nazi Symbiosis: Human Genetics and Politics in the Third Reich

This chapter introduces some of the major internationally renowned human geneticists and eugenicists who laid the foundations of this new science since the turn of the twentieth century, including ... More

This chapter introduces some of the major internationally renowned human geneticists and eugenicists who laid the foundations of this new science since the turn of the twentieth century, including Charles B. Davenport, Harry H. Laughlin, and Francis Galton. It examines their intellectual and political concerns as expressed in their scientific publications and in personal correspondence with other researchers. The chapter also discusses the history of the rise of eugenics, which led to the origins of modern genetics during the period from 1890 to 1914, and considers the influence of the Great Depression on the radical turn in German eugenics.Less

The Modernization of the Population: Accommodating the Human to the Scientific Image

Stephen Gaukroger

in Civilization and the Culture of Science: Science and the Shaping of Modernity, 1795-1935

The ‘civilizing process’ comes to be articulated in scientific terms in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Central to this exercise is the establishment of norms for everything from bodily ... More

The ‘civilizing process’ comes to be articulated in scientific terms in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Central to this exercise is the establishment of norms for everything from bodily proportions to social behaviour. These developments were linked to worries about the degeneration of the population. Eugenics, which identified favourable and unfavourable inherited traits, promoted the former and advocated measures to inhibit reproduction of the latter. As part of this process, what emerged was the invention of the modern notion of ‘intelligence’, which now becomes a criterion of social standing, notionally replacing those of class, race, and birth. This chapter examines a shift of mentality inherent in these developments, in the concern to shape the population into the kinds of people who can occupy a scientifically modelled form of civilization. At the core of this lies the shift from reason to rationality, and we explore some of the consequences of this shift.Less

Introduction

James Tabery

in Beyond Versus: The Struggle to Understand the Interaction of Nature and Nurture

Francis Galton first envisioned a science of “nature versus nurture”—a science devoted to understanding whether nature or nurture contributes more to human traits and a science devoted to using that ... More

Francis Galton first envisioned a science of “nature versus nurture”—a science devoted to understanding whether nature or nurture contributes more to human traits and a science devoted to using that understanding to intervene on those traits with eugenics. Soon after Galton’s introduction of nature versus nurture, scientists moved beyond versus and began considering how nature and nurture interact (now understood as gene-environment interaction). Beyond Versus explores famous episodes from the nature/nurture debate regarding eugenics, race and IQ, and the causes of depression; in so doing, it tells the story of the past, takes stock of the present, and considers the future of research on the interaction of nature and nurture—research that continues to make headlines and raise controversy.Less

The Sine Qua Non of Success

Michael E. Martinez

in Future Bright: A Transforming Vision of Human Intelligence

This chapter explains why intelligence is a crucial factor in success. More specifically, it explores the role of intelligence in human effectiveness in school, in the workplace, and in everyday ... More

This chapter explains why intelligence is a crucial factor in success. More specifically, it explores the role of intelligence in human effectiveness in school, in the workplace, and in everyday life. It first traces the historical roots of the scientific study of intelligence, with particular reference to Francis Galton's contributions to the science of human traits and Alfred Binet's development of the first IQ test. It then considers the threshold hypothesis and asks whether intelligence can be improved and why it should be improved. The chapter argues that human intelligence is now the most important human resource of the twenty-first century, noting the economic value of intelligent minds as shown by data showing that more education usually translates to better pay. This pay gap is commonly known as the wage premium or earnings differential. Finally, the chapter examines two reasons why the human intellect seems to be unrivaled: it is the world's best in problem solving and is capable of coordinating work that requires facile social interaction.Less

The Measurement of Intelligence

Richardson John T. E.

in Howard Andrew Knox: Pioneer of Intelligence Testing at Ellis Island

This chapter focuses on attempts to measure intelligence during the late nineteenth century. Developments in the measurement of intelligence came at a time when researchers were seeking to ... More

This chapter focuses on attempts to measure intelligence during the late nineteenth century. Developments in the measurement of intelligence came at a time when researchers were seeking to demonstrate the heritability of intelligence and practitioners were seeking to classify people as mentally normal or deficient. Francis Galton was one of the first to implement practical methods of measuring intelligence. Galton’s research encouraged James McKeen Cattell, an American student, to use the same techniques to investigate variations in performance across different people. Aside from the research carried out by Galton and Cattell, this chapter considers the work of Victor Henri, Henry Herbert Goddard, Lewis Madison Terman, and Edmund Burke Huey. It also looks at the introduction of Alfred Binet and Théodore Simon’s intelligence tests to the United States.Less

Processes: Algorithmic Personality: The Informatics of Psychological Traits, 1917–1937

Colin Koopman

in How We Became Our Data: A Genealogy of the Informational Person

The central argument of How We Became Our Data is that for the past one hundred years we have been organized by a politics of data within which control is exerted by the many formats of our ... More

The central argument of How We Became Our Data is that for the past one hundred years we have been organized by a politics of data within which control is exerted by the many formats of our information. Over the past century we have become informational persons whose lives are increasingly conducted through an information politics. This chapter traces personality metrics amid an episode in the stabilization of a prestigious subfield in scientific psychology, namely personality psychology. In 1917, Robert Sessions Woodworth of Columbia University produced for the U.S. Army the first personality test in the history of psychology. Personality testing, rating, and assessment soon took off and could be considered a consolidated field by 1937, when Gordon Allport of Harvard University produced the first academic textbook on the subject of personality psychology. This chapter builds on work in the history of psychology by genealogists including Nikolas Rose, Arnold Davidson, and Michel Foucault. In doing so, it offers a unique angle of attention to the underlying algorithms by which personality psychology achieved scientific success. The result is an account of the informational conditions still central to contemporary conceptions of mind, behavior, achievement, and ability.Less

The Vast Range of Visual Worlds

Laura Otis

in Rethinking Thought: Inside the Minds of Creative Scientists and Artists

The insights of five strikingly different visually gifted thinkers shape this chapter: cell biologist Barry Shur, engineer Temple Grandin, painter Mary J. Welty, neuroscientist Hugh Wilson, and U. S. ... More

The insights of five strikingly different visually gifted thinkers shape this chapter: cell biologist Barry Shur, engineer Temple Grandin, painter Mary J. Welty, neuroscientist Hugh Wilson, and U. S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey. Their introspections confront a narrative of how, since the 1880s, neuroscientists and psychologists have tried to learn how visual mental imagery works, including experiments by Francis Galton, Allan Paivio, Roger Shepard, Stephen Kosslyn, and Zenon Pylyshyn. The participants’ insights support cognitive neuroscientist Maria Kozhevnikov’s finding that spatial visualization (focused on dimensions, orientation, velocity, and direction of motion) differs markedly from object visualization (focused on shapes, colors, textures, and visual details.) Their introspections illustrate Kozhevnikov’s claim that there is no unified “visual” way of thinking, and that spatial and object visualization constitute two distinct thinking modes. At the same time, their insights trouble her idea, because their mental worlds differ so greatly that two kinds of visual thinking seem inadequate to describe them.Less