Sir Francis Galton, English anthropologist, explorer and eugenicist, is best known for pioneering the science of eugenics which is the study of creating superior offspring. Galton also authored Hereditary Genius and Natural Inheritance. A cousin of Charles Darwin, he devoted himself to heredity and supported his Darwin’s evolutionary thinking. He also devised the fingerprint identification system, a valuable forensic tool.
Galton also devised the first weather map of meteorology, invented the Galton Whistle for testing differential hearing ability, and devised a method for classifying fingerprints that has proved instrumental in forensic science.
Profile of Francis Galton in a Nutshell
Francis Galton (1822-1911) was born in Birmingham, England. His father was a wealthy banker and his mother was the sister of Charles Darwin’s mother. He received a large inheritance after his father’s death and didn’t need to earn money. He studied at Trinity College, Cambridge.
He traveled widely, in particular, explored Africa. His association with his older cousin Charles Darwin influenced his thinking of the principles of inheritance. His acquaintances included Karl Friedrich Gauss and Karl Pearson.
Galton was knighted in 1909, two years before his death.
Galton’s Idea of Nature Versus Nurture
Endowed with wealth and intelligence – he could read before he was three years old and was writing and doing arithmetic at four – he spent the first half of his adult life travelling and hunting. Galton believed in the idea that children inherit all their characteristics from their parents. He coined the word “genius” and believed that “nature” was everything and saw little influence from the environment where the person is "nurtured" or brought up.
Measurement of Mentality
Galton’s interest in heredity caused him to develop “anthropometry,” a science he believed that if he collected data from enough people he could start to see patterns between physical features and mental ability. Once again, Darwin’s influence becomes apparent from the latter’s theory of survival of the fittest.
Using his Anthropometric Laboratory in London, Galton got enough measurements from people through newspaper advertisements and thousands of paid volunteers to attend. He collaborated with statistician Karl Pearson, to develop some of the earliest statistical tools involved in looking for patterns and correlations within data.
Although the older Sir Francis Galton made pioneering studies of individual differences in intelligence, in France, the younger Alfred Binet began work in measuring intelligence.
Galton’s Hereditary Genius and Statistical Techniques
His book, Hereditary Genius, Galton explains how he developed a mechanism of ranking individuals. He claims that there are inherent differences between people from different races. He used a letter system to grade various natural abilities. For example, “X” denotes high quality and the other end of the spectrum is “x” denoting a low quality in terms of one's natural abilities.
He explained that in any locale or community, the average ability should be denoted with a ranking of "a" or "A," which means, by definition, there would be the same number above and below the full scale of measurement. However, the average ability would vary from group to group, and race to race.
Galton was also convinced that fingerprints would be indicative of a person’s intelligence. In modern times, finger printing has become a valuable forensic tool.
Insights on Francis Galton and Eugenics
Galton’s work led him to looking more ways in developing a general level of human intelligence to secure humanity’s future. With his ideas came the beginnings of Eugenics. His autobiography Memories of My Life (1908), he explained his ideas of Eugenics and the misconception whereby he wanted to control human breeding.
Although felt in general that a population’s improvement via restricted breeding is inappropriate, Eugenics played an active role in 20th century policy-making in Nazi Europe and some parts of the United States. With the advent of the 21th century, a new form of Eugenics has emerged in the form of genetic testing during pregnancy and other reproductive technologies.
Sources:
Clark, John, Ed. Illustrated Biographical Dictionary. London: Chancellor Press, 1978.
McGovern, Una, Editor. Chambers Biographical Dictionary. Edinburgh: Chambers, 2002.
Moore, Pete. E=MC²: The Great Ideas That Shaped Our World. London: Quintet Publishing, 2002.
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