Reviews for Hereditary Genius

The average rating for Hereditary Genius based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2017-05-06 00:00:00 Daniel Maharaj with this book Galton founded the field of behavioral genetics, popularized statistics, investigated the correlates of high achievement and gave birth to eugenics-- his version, of course, was non coercive and largely positive-- he proposed encouraging talented young men and women to have children earlier on in life and encouraging the less able to have fewer. A valuable book for anyone interested in the history of science, especially psychometrics, behavioral genetics, and statistics.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-10-22 00:00:00 David Aplin I don't see that the eugenics movement moved much beyond this foundational document, either in politics or in scientific understanding, which is I suppose both a compliment to Galton and a judgment on his successors. He should have said more about the nephews of Popes, which looked like the most promising piece of evidence in considering the basic nature/nurture issue. I think implicitly it looks Galton wanted to turn humanity into a super-organism, like an ant-hill or bee hive. This might still be in the cards. Also, I wanted to add that Galton displays what seems to me a sophisticated understanding of fitness landscapes and "evolution by jerks", even if only in a couple paragraphs near the end.