The Mismeasure of Man

The Mismeasure of Man by Stephen Jay Gould (ISBN 0393039722) is a controversial book critiquing what he saw as "scientific racism," starting with ideas such as craniometry and the eugenics movement and concluding with more recent developments in the study of race and intelligence.

Related Topics:
Stephen Jay Gould - Controversial book - Scientific racism - Craniometry - Eugenics - Race and intelligence

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The book, originally written in 1981, describes Gould's objections to:

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" the abstraction of intelligence as a single entity, its location within the brain, its quantification as one number for each individual, and the use of these numbers to rank people in a single series of worthiness, invariably to find that oppressed and disadvantaged groups—races, classes, or sexes—are innately inferior and deserve their status" (pp. 24-25).

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Gould later revised and expanded the book in reply to arguments from The Bell Curve by Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray, also a controversial book.

Related Topics:
The Bell Curve - Richard Herrnstein - Charles Murray

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