The Life, Letters and Labours of Francis Galton

First published between 1914 and 1930, this biography offers a fascinating insight into the life of the eugenicist Francis Galton.

Karl Pearson (Author)

9781108072403, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 2 June 2011

412 pages, 73 b/w illus. 5 tables
29.7 x 21.1 x 2.1 cm, 0.98 kg

A controversial figure, Sir Francis Galton (1822–1911), biostatistician, human geneticist, eugenicist, and first cousin of Charles Darwin, is famed as the father of eugenics. Believing that selective breeding was the only hope for the human race, Galton undertook many investigations of human abilities and devoted the last few years of his life to promoting eugenics. Although he intended his studies to work positively, for eradicating hereditary diseases, his research had a hugely negative impact on the world which subsequently bestowed on Galton a rather sinister reputation. Written by Galton's colleague, eugenicist and statistician Karl Pearson (1857–1936), this four-volume biography pieces together a fascinating life. First published in 1914, Volume 1 covers the years from Galton's birth in 1822 to his marriage to Louisa Jane Butler in 1853. Pearson himself was later appointed the first Galton professor of eugenics at University College London.

Preface
1. Foreword
2. The ancestry of Francis Galton
3. Childhood and boyhood
4. Lehrjahre and wanderjahre I – Medical studies and the flight to Constantinople
5. Lehrjahre and wanderjahre II – Mathematical studies and Cambridge pleasures
6. Fallow years, 1844–1849
7. The reawakening: scientific exploration
Appendix.

Subject Areas: Evolution [PSAJ]